The sport climbing events continued on Tuesday at Le Bourget Sport Climbing venue with the women's bouldering semifinal. Women representing 13 delegations attempted four bouldering problems, earn up to 100 points based on their success. (Athletes will also compete for a maximum of 100 points in the lead semifinal and their combined total — maximum of 200 — will set the field for the bouldering/lead combined final.)
The women's semifinal saw a marked improvement in the number of athletes who were able to complete boulders compared to that in the men's semifinal. Although the boulder problems were different, more than half of the competitors were able to top at least one. The top four climbers completed three boulders.
Slovenia's Janja Garnbret, who's the defending Olympic champion, was the undeniable leader of the field. She was the only athlete to complete all four boulder problems after flashing the first two boulders and topping the last two boulders in fewer than three attempts each. Garnbret earned 99.6 points out of the possible 100 points.
"It should be 100," Garnbret said of her near-perfect score.
Oriane Bertone of France also delivered a stunning performance to finish 15.1 points behind Garnbret with a 84.5.
Americans Brooke Raboutou and Natalia Grossman also closed out strong by placing third and fifth, respectively.
Japanese powerhouse Ai Mori concluded the boulder section ranked outside of the top eight. The lead specialist is expected to make up for her average boulder score in the lead semifinal on Aug. 8.
The top eight climbers with the highest combined scores from the boulder and lead competitions will advance to the final.
Women's boulder semifinal (Top 8):
Janja Garnbret (SLO): 99.6 points
Oriane Bertone (FRA): 84.5 points
Brooke Raboutou (USA): 83.7 points
Oceana Mackenzie (AUS): 79.6 points
Natalia Grossman (USA): 69.2 points
Jessica Pilz (AUT): 68.8 points
Miho Nonaka (JPN): 64.4 points
Camilla Moroni (ITA): 64.0 points