Surrey climber says Olympic gold win not 'sunk in'

Toby Roberts has described his Olympic gold medal win in the men's boulder and lead event as "the happiest moment of my life".

The 19-year-old climber from Elstead, Surrey, said winning Great Britain's 14th gold medal in Paris "definitely hasn't sunk in yet".

He said: "To work for a goal for so many years and to finally achieve your dreams down on that podium, it's just a moment which I'll never forget."

Roberts took an interest in his sport at an early age, completing his first recorded climb when he was aged just three.

He became the first Briton to win a lead World Cup medal for 28 years at the Ratho World Cup in 2022.

The athlete said his father, Tristian, who is also his coach, "always 100% trusts me", adding that he was "forever grateful" to his parents "to have been there to allow me to achieve my dream".

Roberts, who spent Covid pandemic lockdowns training on a wall in his back garden, used to climb with Craggy Island Youth Climbing Team, now part of the Spider Climbing Group.

The Blue Spider Climbing team, based in Guildford, said it was "incredible" that the "really talented" climber had won gold.

After securing his win, Roberts celebrated by finding and hugging his family - including his sisters Katie and Emma, his mother Marina and his father.

He said he "absolutely" wanted to inspire "as many people as possible to go climbing".

Roberts added: "It's my life now. It's brought so much joy to me and I just want to spread that as much as possible."

Asked if he would sleep wearing his medal, Roberts said: "Yeah, this isn't coming off ever.

"I'm going to wear this until I die.

"I just love climbing and competing and that's what I want to do for the rest of my life."

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