- Ai Mori’s first attempt ended in disappointment after she scored zero points
- Mori, who stands at 5ft 1ins, was unable to grab the starting holds on the wall
- Social media users believe she was bullied with the boulders placed too high
Japanese climbing star Ai Mori’s quest for Olympic gold got off to the worst possible start in the boulder and lead final after she failed to grab the starting holds – with viewers declaring she had been ‘bullied’ and ‘discriminated against’ by organisers.
Mori, the lead world champion, began the competition on a bitter note as she struggled to haul herself onto the 15m wall to begin her first attempt in Paris.
The athlete, who stands at just 5ft 1ins, was even unable to perform a run and jump to reach the holds and scored a disappointing zero points for her opening run.
She had earned 96.1 points on the lead wall in the semi-finals and was tipped to be a contender for the medals had she improved her boulder work.
And despite stuttering to an overall score of 39.0 on the bouldering, a sensational lead climb that saw her score 96.1 out of a possible 100 points – and reach the top – pushed her into provisional gold, ahead Team GB‘s Erin McNeice.
Japanese climbing star Ai Mori struggled on the boulder wall during the Olympic final
Mori, who stands at 5ft 1ins, struggled to grab the starting holds on her first climb
X users remained crestfallen with her first effort of the day, however, and claimed that she had been let down by routesetters.
One person said: ‘Sport climbing is a prime example of how Ms Mori is being bullied. It’s really infuriating to see short people performing impossible tasks on the Olympic stage. What kind of diversity are you kidding me about?!’
Another added: ‘Not the first time this has happened for Ai Mori. Absolutely outrageous how she is discriminated against by routesetters in this way.’
‘Ai Mori is such a talented climber but there’s only so much you can do when the routesetters make the boulders too high to even start the route,’ a third said.
‘Feeling desperately sorry for Ai Mori at the #OlympicGames #bouldering finals, the only one who couldn’t even make the start hold as being the smallest climber at five foot one, she couldn’t reach them, even dynamically,’ a fourth posted.
Viewers declared routesetters had ‘bullied’ and ‘discriminated against’ Mori
Mori earned her spot at the Olympics by securing the bronze medal in the Combined discipline at last year’s World Championships in Switzerland.
She was first immersed in the sport as a young child after trying out a climbing gym during a stroll around a shopping mall with her father.
‘The Paris Olympics will be the biggest stage of my climbing career but I plan on being loose and enjoying it, and I hope people have fun watching me,’ she said.
