Mansfield climber Sam Hammond signs off with fourth place
Mansfield climber Sam Hammond traveled to Graz in Austria for the last bouldering European Youth Cup of the season.
The competition consisted of qualifiers on the Saturday with the top 10 climbers progressing through to finals on the Sunday.
Sam got through to finals comfortably in fifth place by getting all six zones (a predetermined crux move on the wall) and flashing (topping them on the first attempt) four of the six blocs.
On the Sunday there were four boulders, where he flashed one and got the zone on two.
This was enough to see him improve upon his position and finish in fourth place.
The 17-year-old, who studies at Mansfield's Joseph Whitaker School, said: “I'm really pleased with my first international bouldering competitions.
“I've now got six weeks to train for my first Senior European lead competition and do my end of year exams.”
Last month Sam finished an impressive seventh out of 80 competitors at the first European Youth Boulder Cup in Curno, Italy.
Sam won the Junior British Lead Championship in 2022 and is chasing a place in the World Championships in China.