By Mikie Schofield
Since the start of 2020 we have seen delays in many sporting events but now, after much anticipation, the biggest sporting event is finally here, coming with five new sports added to the competition.
Sport Climbing is amongst one of the five new sports making its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and Sheffield-based Bouldering World Champion, Shauna Coxsey, will be representing team GB in the hopes to bring home the gold.
28-year-old Coxsey, who specialises in bouldering, was inspired after watching a documentary about French mountaineer Catherine Destivelle at just 4 years old.
She has since competed in twelve competitive climbing events from 2015, finishing in the top three each time and winning every bouldering competition she has entered.
After training in her basement on a homemade climbing wall, Coxsey has been training at the Climbing Hangar in Sheffield where they have replicated the climbing wall used for Tokyo 2020 and will open to the public later this year.
Coxsey announced that the 2020 Olympics will be her last competitive climb but will continue to enjoy the sport and spend time climbing in the peak district near her Sheffield home.
The climbing event will take place at The Aomi Urban Sports Park and will incorporate a combination of speed climbing, lead climbing and bouldering as Coxsey branches out from her usual discipline of bouldering to making her way round three.
The event will consist of 20 male athletes and 20 female athletes with one set of medals for each gender.
The qualification events will start with the men’s on Tuesday the 3rd of August followed by the women’s qualifiers on Wednesday the 4th.
The men’s finals will take place on the 5th of August with the women’s final taking place the following day.
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