She's thrilled us with her speed climbing, but Beatrice Colli's talent doesn't stop there: over the weekend, the young climber from Lecco, a member of the Ragni di Lecco sports team and a Rock Experience ambassador, won the silver medal in the second stage of the U20 European Bouldering Cup in Soure, Portugal. A place Beatrice is very attached to:
“ This is my fourth time competing in the European Cup in Soure ,” says the athlete from Lecco, “and I knew it would go well. From the first time, in 2018, I fell in love with this place, even though it's not among the most beautiful gyms in the world—in fact, it's a small bouldering facility set up in the school basketball gym. It was my first time competing in Bouldering, and I was thrilled to be competing in a discipline other than Speed.”
Also in Soure, Bea reached her first final in 2019, and her second in 2021.
And again in Bouldering , in the senior Italian Cup final in March, Beatrice had already demonstrated her great talent by winning silver, just behind reigning Italian champion Camilla Moroni. This success came just seven days after her personal best of 7.69 in the Italian Cup.
“ I don't think it's ever happened that in the same season an athlete reached the podium seven days apart in two such different specialties as Speed and Boulder ” his coach Fabio Palma told us.
For this year's European Cup, with the Speed specialty in the sights and the mind set on the next events, the decision to leave was made at the last minute:
“This year I have to admit that I was undecided whether to leave or stay home and train for the Speed World Cup on May 6th,” says Beatrice. “I wasn't fully motivated precisely because my mind was focused on that goal. Luckily, I took that plane.”
And how did it go?
“I saw the ocean, I touched the sand (a very rare thing for an athlete who last went to the beach with her parents at the age of five), I had fun with my national teammates and I won my first international silver medal for bouldering.”
A competition made of adrenaline, concentration, lucidity, which we find in the story of those moments entrusted to the voice of Beatrice:
The race was split into qualifying on Saturday and the final on Sunday. On Saturday, I wasn't at all satisfied with my climb, but the goal was to get a ticket to the final, so I didn't give it much thought: in these cases, you have to cancel and start again, as my wise coach Fabio Palma says.
The real competition was the final on Sunday: in the warm-up I felt good, better, I was charged, I wanted to redeem myself from the last final (zero zones and zero tops, the so-called 'loop of death').
I go out on the first block and do it on the first try. I'm amazed at myself, I don't understand how I did it, what I did, but I'm happy.
Now I'm on the second problem, I flash to the top but can't connect it and I fall. I set off for the second attempt, knowing I'd send it; I had to send it. I do it, and I'm even happier.
I go out for the third block, I don't understand it and I don't close it but it doesn't bother me because I know no one has done it: it was very hard, maybe too much.
The last problem, the best one, a triple throw, I couldn't wait to try it, but perhaps because I was nervous, unfocused, and above all tired, I couldn't do it. The zone would have been enough to win, but honestly, I'm satisfied with it. I never thought I had the ability to come in second, and I still struggle to believe in that ability, but it's all true, and maybe it even makes sense after the hard training.”
After finishing tenth at the European stage in Chambery, France two weeks ago, this weekend's super performance allows Beatrice to jump to the top of the European Women's Under 20 Bouldering rankings.
In the meantime, however, the athlete from Lecco is ready to fly to Korea for her other specialty: in a few days, the first stage of the Speed World Cup will be held in Seoul.
Congratulations to Bea and the entire Ragni di Lecco team, and good luck for the next events!
