With each climber that passed him in Paris on Friday morning, Colin Duffy’s chances of a sport climbing medal began to slowly fade. His position at the top of the competition was only fleeting, his final result was fourth and just one place off the podium.

After a strong round of bouldering, the Broomfield native and Peak to Peak graduate comfortably finished in second place. His score of 68.3 was just behind first place, but surpassed Toby Roberts (Great Britain) with 63.1.

Third out of eight competitors in the lead final, Duffy had to climb just a few metres from the top of the wall and managed just enough to take the lead. In lead climbing, climbers must attempt to reach a high wall littered with obstacles and a series of rope clamps, and they have just six minutes to do so.

Duffy was in the lead with 68.1 points.

Austrian Jakob Schubert quickly displaced Duffy from the top spot, overtaking him by just a few holds. His gigantic lead of 96.0 far surpassed the 43.6 he had achieved earlier in the bouldering.

Roberts rose even higher, missing the top spot by a single hold. His total score of 155.2 – 92.1 of which was lead – catapulted him straight into gold medal contention, a position he maintained until the end of the competition.

Duffy stayed on the podium until the last competitor of the day, teetering on the edge. Japan’s Sorato Anraku, buoyed by a high score in bouldering, overtook both Duffy and Schubert, relegating the Austrian to bronze and Duffy to fourth place.

Duffy narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal but won silver at the World Championships last year. He finished seventh three years ago in Tokyo.

Originally published: August 9, 2024 at 2:45 p.m.