Toby
Roberts
United Kingdom
·
Climbing
Date of birth | March 15, 2005 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | Elstead |
Age | 20 |
Nationality | United Kingdom |
Career start | 2022 |
Disciplines | Climbing Combined |
Toby Roberts first laid eyes on a climbing wall aged three on a family outing, one of those portable fairground walls with a bell at the top. The toddler got in the queue, got strapped in and then climbed all the way to the top, ringing the bell and showing an incredible raw talent even at that young age.
A few years later, Toby joined his first after-school climbing club and impressed his instructors with not only his ability, but obvious determination. He’s had only one question on his mind since then: 'how do I get better?’. And that set him on the path to become the British climbing’s brightest young talent.
Achievements started to come thick and fast for the young Toby. Aged 10, he became the youngest-ever Brit to climb the 8a Raindogs route at Malham Cove, showing a love and talent for hard outdoor climbing as well as indoor competition.
“I just love the uniqueness of climbing,” says Toby. "Nothing's ever the same. Each competition is up to the setter's imagination and is so different. What really drives me is the act of trying hard and doing insane stuff.”
Despite the pandemic affecting a significant part of his youth competition career, Toby still racked up a string of impressive achievements, including European titles in both lead and boulder and reaching three consecutive World Youth Championship lead finals – double silver medal performances in both lead and boulder at the 2022 event in Dallas, USA, a real standout.
That same summer, Toby really made the climbing world sit up and take notice when he won all three rounds of the European Cup Lead to win his first senior gold medal and scored a sensational third place at only his second-ever lead World Cup in Edinburgh.
From there, Toby has consistently reached new heights in rapid succession.
A first World Cup gold medal came during the 2023 season, with a bouldering gold at the Brixen World Cup in Italy, where he was the final climber of the day, overcoming the tension of having no idea how your opponents have done. Three weeks later, he clinched his first-ever lead World Cup win in Chamonix, again as the last climber. It’s a performance Toby cites as one of his career highlights, beating some of the best in the world.
A year later, Toby added another first to his name – becoming the first-ever British male climber not only to achieve selection for the biggest stage of all, but after a dramatic final day on the wall, the first Brit to bring home a climbing medal. The fact that it was gold was the icing on the cake.
“I'm just absolutely lost for words,” he explained after the thrilling finale. “To find out that I got the gold in that moment, it was just truly incredible. I've been training for this moment my whole life, and now I've just won. To say it hasn't sunk in is an understatement.”
In 2025, he was awarded an MBE for services to sport climbing in the New Year's Honours list - the youngest to receive the award that year.