The 2024 international competition season has cemented Oceania Mackenzie in Australia’s competition climbing history with multiple historic achievements. Sport Climbing Australia is proud to acknowledge these contributions to the elevating sport climbing’s stature in Australia and is excited about Mackenzie’s future, pushing Australian competition climbing success even further.
Oce’s first remarkable result in 2024 came in May at the Salt Lake City Boulder World Cup where she placed 4th - excruciatingly close to achieving an elusive world cup medal. However, this finals performance meant that Mackenzie had matched the previous record of most Boulder World Cup finals by an Australian of three Boulder World Cup Finals first accomplished by James Kassay.
The following months of competition culminated in Oce’s second Olympic Games in Paris. In front of the largest audience our sport garners with all the pressure of the big stage Oce delivered a remarkable performance making Olympic finals and finishing in 7th place. This represented an incredible improvement from the previous Games and is a stark demonstration in the improvement Oce has been working so hard on.
Following the Olympic Games, Oce decided to continue the competition season with both Lead and Boulder world cup events. In September, at the Koper Lead World Cup Oce made history again making it to finals and finishing in 4th place. This performance was the first time ever an Australian had made finals at a Lead World Cup.
Two weeks after the Koper Lead World Cup Oce then achieved a huge milestone, delivering her first podium finish at a Boulder World Cup in Prague. After a notable semi-finals performance where she was one of only two athletes to complete the second boulder, Oce went into finals in second place. Making this final now broke the record for most Boulder World Cup finals making Oce the most successful Australian competition climber in Bouldering. A hard fought two tops and three zone’s in the final round landed Oce in third place for the bronze medal, winning Australia’s first ever World Cup medal in an able bodied category.
Oce’s season wrapped up with a Boulder and Lead World Cup event in Seoul. Oce was in contention for 2024 Boulder World Cup Season overall podium. After an incredible qualifying round which placed her in first place going into semi-finals, Oce came short of making finals by only one zone. Her 7th place finish in the Boulder World Cup was enough for a 2nd place 2024 Boulder World Cup season ranking - another historic achievement for Australian Sport Climbing.
The Australian climbing community is incredibly proud of all Oceania Mackenzie’s achievements this past year and can’t wait for the 2025 season to start.
Photo by Dimitris Tosidis
