Canada's Alannah Yip slips out of sport climbing medal contention in Tokyo

Canada's Alannah Yip slipped out of medal contention after missing the cut for the women's sport climbing final at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. 

The native of North Vancouver finished in 14th place with a combined score of 1152 and will not advance to the final, eight-competitor round. 

Yip, nevertheless, made history at Aomi Urban Sports Park, by becoming the first Canadian woman to compete in the sports' Olympic debut.  

Janja Garnbret of Slovenia topped the combined leaderboard with a score of 56. 

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In the current Olympic format, athletes compete across three disciplines: speed, bouldering and lead. Rankings are determined by multiplying competitors' scores across all three disciplines.  

Yip, a non-speed specialist, started off strong, placing sixth in the opening competition. Her hands instantly shooting up into the air in celebration, having vaulted herself up the wall in 7.99 seconds in both her second and third speed climbs. The broad smile on the 27-year-old's face, was more than enough to tell the tale.

A bouldering specialist, Yip, surprisingly, struggled in the second portion of the competition. At times appearing frustrated, she managed zero tops and only two attempted zones.

The 16th place result was disappointing for the Canadian who finished seventh at the 2019 world championships. 

In lead, where athletes have six minutes to climb as high as they can on a 15-metre wall, Yip continued to struggle. She managed 21 plus moves before losing her grip on an attempted pinch to finish 12th. 

Sensing her competition was done, Yip waved her appreciation to the crowd before turning to the camera with hands formed into a heart. 

"It was a roller-coaster," said Yip after the competition. "I can be happy with some things and obviously not as pleased with other things.

"But, at the end of the day, I still got to compete [in Tokyo 2020], I still got to be a part of this historic event showing the world the sport that I love so much."

Above all, Yip says, "What I really hope from this is that tons more people in the world see climbing as a legitimate sport. When I started, it was this weird fringe sport ... now, we're in the Olympics."

Yip secured her place in Tokyo by winning the combined event at last February's 2020 Pan American Championships in Los Angeles. 

On Tuesday, fellow B.C. native Sean McColl also made history, as the first Canadian to compete in the men's portion of the Olympic sport climbing competition.

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Final field set

Garnbret, 22, already widely heralded as the best in the sport, leapt to the top of the field with a perfect bouldering round. 

Despite having finished 14th in speed, the Slovenian – who swept six World Cup events in 2019 – once again, showed why she is the pound-for-pound best, after also coming fourth in lead. 

Seo Chaehyun of South Korea finished second with a combined score of 85. 

The 17-year-old made up for her 17th place finish in speed, by topping lead and coming fourth in bouldering. 

While local favourites Nonaka Miho (96) and Noguchi Akiyo (162) finished third and fourth respectively. 

Women's combined qualification results:

1. Janja Garnbret of Slovenia (speed 14th, bouldering 1st, lead 4th) combined total: 56
2. Seo Chaehyun of South Korea (speed 17th, bouldering 5th, lead 1st) combined total: 85
3. Nonaka Miho of Japan (speed 4th, bouldering 8th, lead 3rd) combined total: 96
4. Noguchi Akiyo of Japan (speed 9th, bouldering 3rd, lead 6th) combined total: 162
5. Brooke Raboutou of U.S. (speed 12th, bouldering 2nd, lead 8th) combined total: 192
6. Jessica Pilz of Austria (speed 11th, bouldering 9th, lead 2nd) combined total: 198
7. Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland (speed 1st, bouldering. 20th, lead 19th) combined total: 380
8. Anouck Jaubert of France (speed 2nd, bouldering 13th, lead 15th) combined total: 390

• 14th Alannah Yip of Canada (speed 6th, bouldering 16th, lead 12th) combined total: 1152