Australian Oceania Mackenzie makes solid climbing start
Australian climber Oceania Mackenzie is well-placed in fourth after the opening day of the women's Olympic boulder and lead event.
Competing at her second Olympics, the 22-year-old from Melbourne scored 79.6 in the boulder section.
Slovenian Janja Garnbret, who won gold when the sport made its Olympic debut in Tokyo and is an eight-time world champion, gave the strong impression that everyone else are competing for the minor medals.
She was near-perfect, scoring 99.6 out of a possible 100.
Oriane Bertone of France was next on 84.5 and American Brooke Raboutou is third with 83.7.
Mackenzie made the ideal start, joining Garnbret as the only climbers to post a perfect score of 24 on the first boulder.
"I went out to the first boulder, I was actually feeling quite nervous. But I saw that it was quite my style," Mackenzie said.
"I was feeling confident and determined and knew that if I just went at it, I could flash it and do it on my first try. From then on, I was feeling pretty good."
The event continues with the lead section on Friday night (AEST), with the top eight overall to compete for the medals on Saturday night (AEST).
