Sydney venues host Australian National Climbing Championships

Last weekend saw Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym venues at St Peters and Villawood host the Australian National Championships for Lead, Speed and Boulder Climbing.

A vital step along the path toward selection to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the championships showcased the three disciplines of sport climbing with boulder climbing at SICG St Peters on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th November and lead and speed climbing on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th at SICG Villawood.

Athletes who were selected via their state titles competed for the title of National Champion in each discipline, as well as for a place on the Australian Team.

As advised by Sport Climbing Australia, the top eight athletes in the overall ranking have been selected to represent Australia at the Olympic selection event in March 2020, the Oceania Championships with the winner of the Oceania Combined Championships qualifying to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Tom O’Halloran and Oceania Mackenzie took out first place in the very demanding overall event, with the level of the climbing during event leaving Australia very well placed for the forthcoming Oceania Championships.

Sport Climbing Australia is the nation’s peak body for sport climbing.

Image shows action from last weekend's Mammut Australian National Championships. Courtesy of Sport Climbing Australia/Deanna Whyte Photography.