Introduction

Rome-born Laura Rogora had already made a name for herself outside of the IFSC circuit with her impressive rock ascents from a young age. She burst onto the IFSC senior World Cup circuit in 2017, making finals in her first ever World Cup in Villars and finishing 6th. Laura's determined and slightly erratic climbing style is exciting to watch, and her endurance makes her a serious contender in Lead, so long as her small stature is not a limitation on more powerful moves. 

Her potential for stand-out performances was once again proved in the Vail Boulder World Cup in 2019, where she finished just outside of finals in 8th place. A few months later, she won three out of four possible gold medals at the IFSC World Youth Championships, coming first in Lead, Boulder and Combined, and placed 2nd in the IFSC European Lead Championships in Edinburgh later that year.

Laura won her first World Cup in Briancon in 2020 and was 2nd in Villars in 2021. In Tokyo 2020, Laura placed 15th. A few weeks later at the Moscow World Championships, she won bronze in Lead. Since then, her only World Cup podium was a 2nd place in Chamonix in 2022. 

Qualification route

Olympic Qualifier Series: 11th Place 

A 3rd place at the European Qualifier in Laval showed Laura’s promise ahead of the OQS. A disappointing 17th place in Shanghai after a low fall in Lead semis was bolstered by a 6th place finish in Budapest, where a crafty static top of a Boulder in the semis and a more robust Lead performance secured her a top-12 finish. She ranked 11th overall. 

Trivia

Laura started climbing at the age of 4 and climbs with her older sister Chiara, who has also represented Italy in competitions and made international podiums at youth level. 

UKC prediction

Laura’s weakness remains her power in Boulder and it increasingly seems to catch her out on the Lead wall as the climbs become more dynamic. Her tenacity might just see her through to the top-15 for an improvement on Tokyo.