IFSC
Media
Guide
2024

A message
from...

I trust that you will all enjoy your stays in
Paris and that you have everything youneed to perform your duties to the bestof your abilities. Please do not hesitate
to make the best use of the membersof our IFSC Communications Team, they
are here to assist you whenever andwherever possible.

Marco Maria Scolaris
IFSC President (2007-present)

Good luck, and above all thank you foryour interest in our sport.
World up. Keep Climbing!
Marco Scolaris
IFSC President

Fabrizio Rossini
Marco Maria Scolaris at the
II Climbing Summit - 2022

Dear Members of the Media,
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the Sport Climbing competition of the
Olympic Games Paris 2024. While this is our second Olympic appearance following
our debut three years ago at Tokyo 2020, there are still be plenty of firsts in store for us
at Le Bourget Climbing Venue this 5-10 August. Most importantly, of course, is the factthat our athletes will be competing in front of a live audience in Paris, something they
were unfortunately deprived of in Tokyo due to COVID-19 restrictions.
As you all know, having spectators in attendance significantly enhances theatmosphere of a sporting event, and we expect our athletes to really feed off theenergy created here. This in turn should translate into unforgettable performanceson the wall.
Paris 2024 will also be the first time our Boulder & Lead format features alongside
Speed at an Olympic Games (in Tokyo all three disciplines were combined). As aresult, the total number of medal events for Sport Climbing has doubled from two tofour, while the number of climbers has grown from 40 to 68.
When it comes to storylines, therefore, you should definitely be spoiled for choice. Ourathletes are our greatest ambassadors, and to help you get to know them better, wehave included short bios on each in this Media Guide. But don’t stop there.
I encourage all of you to make the effort to speak with the athletes in the mixed zone
and in one-on-one interviews to help you to learn more about their exceptional
histories, personalities, accomplishments and – why not – their families and theirentourage, who are often obscured but are fundamental in creating the conditions of
their performances on the field of play.
p. 2

Marco Maria Scolaris and IOC President
Thomas Bach during the OQS event in Budapest 2024

Media & Communications Director
Dear world media representatives,
We are very pleased to have you with us at Le Bourget
Climbing Venue, capturing all the highlights of what is sure
to be a memorable Olympic Sport Climbing competition.
This Media Guide was developed specifically with you in mind. It contains everything
we could think of to make your jobs as easy as possible while at the Games, as we knowhow hectic major multisport events can sometimes be for those working on the frontline. For starters, you will find the contact information for the IFSC Communications
Team. As our team is here to assist you, we will do our best to take care of any request
you may have...or at the very least point you in the right direction of someone who
can. Also contained within this document are the IFSC’s social media handles, a brief
history of our Federation and sport, the competition schedule, format explainer, andathlete biographies. Additional information can be found on our official website:www.ifsc-climbing.org. You, the media, will be the window to our sport for millions ofpeople consuming your work around the world, from diehard Sport Climbing fans tothose coming to our sport for the first time. Your success is therefore our success. In
this context, I know you will have plenty to report on from 5-10 August and I trust thatyou will find this publication useful to facilitating your work. I look forward to meetingas many of you as possible during the Games, and I wish you a productive andenjoyable time here in the City of Light.
Warm regards,
Fabrizio Rossini
IFSC Media & Communications Directorp. 3

Media Contacts
Fabrizio ROSSINIMedia & Communications Director
M: +39 348 8284387 E: fabrizio.rossini@ifsc-climbing.org

Richard ASPLAND
Media Manager

M: +39 331 1336432 E: richard.aspland@ifsc-climbing.org

Email communications@ifsc-climbing.org for:Media requests - Social media - Website

Email marketing@ifsc-climbing.org for:TV rights - Sponsorship - Webcasting - Footage requests

SOCIAL MEDIAFOLLOW US ON:

Marco VETTORETTI•

Facebook @SportClimbing

M: +39 371 4155701 E: marco.vettoretti@ifsc-climbing.org•

Instagram @ifsclimbing•

Twitter @IFSClimbing

Samuel TURI•

YouTube @sportclimbing

M: +39 333 187 3174 E: samuel.turi@ifsc-climbing.org•

Linkedin @ifsclimbing•

TikTok @worldclimbing•

Threads @ifsclimbing•

Flickr @ifsclimbing

Digital Manager

Graphic Designer

p. 4

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WHAT IS THE IFSC?
p. 6

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) was created on 27 January 2007as a continuation of the International Council for Competition Climbing, which was
created in 1997. An international non-governmental and non-profit organisation, the
IFSC’s main objectives are the direction, regulation, promotion, development, andfurtherance of climbing competitions around the world. The IFSC is a member of
GAISF, IWGA, ARISF, and ASOIF, and has its sport in the Olympic programme. It is also
recognised by the International Paralympic Committee. The last two decades havebeen a period of spectacular growth for both Sport Climbing and the organisation.
Sport Climbing has gained credibility not only as competitive sport, but also for itssocial values. The IFSC is a young and healthy federation founded on modern sporting
principles and values, cultivating them along with sport growth and development.
Sport Climbing was officially confirmed as an additional sport in the programme of
the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 during the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Session in Rio de Janeiro, August 2016, and was included as a medal sport in the Youth
Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018. A proposal to include surfing, skateboarding,breaking, and Sport Climbing at
the Olympic Games Paris 2024 wasunanimously approved at the 134th
IOC Session on 25 June 2019. The IOC
Executive Board officially confirmed Sport
Climbing’s inclusion in the programme of
the 2024 Olympic Games on 7 December
2020. At the 139th Session of the IOC in
Beijing in February 2022, Sport Climbing
was confirmed on the Initial Sports
Programme of the Olympic Games Los
Men’s Para Climbing AL1 Podium at the IFSC WorldAngeles 2028 as part of a strong focus onChampionships Bern 2023
youth.

Ai Mori (JPN) competing during the
IFSC World Championships Bern 2023

IFSC Board Members during the visit at the Olympic House in Lausanne (Switzerland) - 2023

p. 7

Climbing’s debut at
Tokyo 2020
Tokyo 2020 Climbing Venue

Janja GARNBRET[SLO] Gold Medal

Alberto GINÉS LÓPEZ
[ESP] Gold Medal

During the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016, the International Olympic
Committee added Climbing to the programme of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
From 3 to 6 August 2021, a total of 40 Sport Climbing athletes - 20 men and 20 women- competed in a Combined event at Tokyo’s Aomi Urban Sports Park, featuring all
three disciplines of the sport: Boulder, Lead, and Speed, in one event.
On the 5 August 2021 Sport Climbing’s first Olympic champion in history was crowned,
where following the men’s Combined final, 18-year-old Alberto Ginés López of Spain
claimed the Olympic gold medal. In doing so, Ginés López became the youngest
Spanish Olympic gold medallist to date.

Nathaniel COLEMAN [USA] Silver Medal

NONAKA Miho [JPN] Silver Medal

Jakob SCHUBERT [AUT] Bronze Medal

NOGUCHI Akiyo [JPN] Bronze Medal

Slovenia’s Garnbret won the women’s Combined Olympic gold medal on 6 August,becoming the first female Olympic Champion in the history of Sport Climbing andmade more history by carrying the Slovenian flag in the Closing Ceremony, becoming
the first flag bearer representing Sport Climbing at an Olympic Ceremony.

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p. 9

World Champions

Speed Records

World Championships – 2023 Bern, Switzerland

Speed World records

Men’s Boulder
GOLD – Mickael Mawem (FRA)
SILVER – Mejdi Schalck (FRA)
BRONZE – Dohyun Lee (KOR)

Men’s LeadGOLD - Jakob Schubert (AUT)
SILVER – Sorato Anraku (JPN)
BRONZE – Alexander Megos (GER)

Men’s
12 April 2024

Women’s Boulder
GOLD – Janja Garnbret (SLO)
SILVER – Oriane Bertone (FRA)
BRONZE – Brooke Raboutou (USA)

Women’s LeadGOLD – Ai Mori (JPN)
SILVER – Janja Garnbret (SLO)
BRONZE - Chaehyun Seo (KOR)

Men’s Speed
GOLD – Matteo Zurloni (ITA)SILVER – Jinbao Long (CHN)
BRONZE – Rahmad Adi Mulyono (INA)

Men’s Boulder & LeadGOLD – Jakob Schubert (AUT)
SILVER – Colin Duffy (USA)
BRONZE – Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)

Women’s Speed
GOLD – Desak M. R. Kusuma Dewi (INA)
SILVER – Emma Hunt (USA)
BRONZE - Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL)

Women’s Boulder & LeadGOLD – Janja Garnbret (SLO)
SILVER - Jessica Pilz (AUT)
BRONZE – Ai Mori (JPN)

p. 10

4.79 | SAMUEL WATSON (USA)IFSC World Cup Wujiang 2024

Women’s
15 September 2023

6.24 | ALEKSANDRA MIROSLAW (POL)IFSC European Qualifier Rome 2023

Speed Olympic records
Men’s
3 August 2021

Women’s
6 August 2021

5.45 | BASSA MAWEM (FRA)

6.84 | ALEKSANDRA MIROSLAW (POL)

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

p. 11

Schedules

05-10 AUGUSTMONDAY 05 AUGUST

THURSDAY 08 AUGUST

10:00

10:00

Men’s Boulder & Lead, Semi-final Boulder

13:00

Women’s Boulder & Lead, Semi-final
Lead

Women’s Speed, Qualification Seeding

12:35

Women’s Speed, Qualification Elimination

12:46

TUESDAY 06 AUGUST

12:54

13:35

10:00

Men’s Speed, Quarter-finals
Men’s Speed, Semi-finals
Men’s Speed, Finals

Women’s Boulder & Lead, Semi-final
Boulder

FRIDAY 9 AUGUST

Men’s Speed, Qualification Seeding

Men’s Boulder & Lead, Final - Boulder

13:00

10:15

13:35

12:35

Men’s Speed, Qualification Elimination

Men’s Boulder & Lead, Final - Lead

WEDNESDAY 07 AUGUST

SATURDAY 10 AUGUST

10:00

10:15

12:35

12:35

Men’s Boulder & Lead, Semi-final - Lead
Women’s Speed, Quarter-finals

12:46

Women’s Boulder & Lead, Final - Boulder
Women’s Boulder & Lead, Final – Lead

Women’s Speed, Semi-finals

12:54

Women’s Speed, Finals

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Qualified Athletes
Women’s Boulder & Lead

Women’s Speed

Men’s Boulder & Lead

Men’s Speed

IFSC World Championships Bern 2023:
1st – Janja GARNBRET (SLO)
2nd – Jessica PILZ (AUT)
3rd – MORI Ai (JPN)IFSC World Championships Bern 2023:
1st – Desak MADE RITA KUSUMA DEWI (INA)
2nd – Emma HUNT (USA)IFSC World Championships Bern 2023:
1st – Jakob SCHUBERT (AUT)
2nd – Colin DUFFY (USA)
3rd – NARASAKI Tomoa (JPN)IFSC World Championships Bern 2023:
1st – Matteo ZURLONI (ITA)
2nd – LONG Jinbao (CHN)IFSC European Qualifier Laval 2023:
1st – Oriane BERTONE (FRA)IFSC European Qualifier Rome 2023:
1st – Aleksandra MIROSLAW (POL)IFSC European Qualifier Laval 2023:
1st – Toby ROBERTS (GBR)

IFSC European Qualifier Rome 2023:
1st – Bassa MAWEM (FRA)

Pan American Games Santiago 2023:
1st – Natalia GROSSMAN (USA)Pan American Games Santiago 2023:
1st – Piper KELLY (USA)Pan American Games Santiago 2023:
1st – Jesse GRUPPER (USA)Pan American Games Santiago 2023:
1st – Samuel WATSON (USA)IFSC Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023:
1st – ZHANG Yuetong (CHN)IFSC Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023:
1st – DENG Lijuan (CHN)IFSC Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023:
1st – ANRAKU Sorato (JPN)IFSC Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023:
1st – Rahmad ADI MULYONO (INA)

IFSC Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023:
1st – Oceania MACKENZIE (AUS)IFSC Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023:
1st – Sarah TETZLAFF (NZL)IFSC Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023:
1st – Campbell HARRISON (AUS)IFSC Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023:
1st – Julian DAVID (NZL)IFSC African Qualifier Pretoria 2023:
1st – Lauren MUKHEIBIR (RSA)IFSC African Qualifier Pretoria 2023:
1st – Aniya HOLDER (RSA)IFSC African Qualifier Pretoria 2023:
1st – Mel JANSE VAN RENSBURG (RSA)IFSC African Qualifier Pretoria 2023:
1st – Joshua BRUYNS (RSA)

Olympic Qualifier Series:
1st – Brooke RABOUTOU (USA)
2nd – NONAKA Miho (JPN)
3rd – Erin MCNEICE (GBR)
4th – SEO Chaehyun (KOR)
5th – LUO Zhilu (CHN)
6th – Ievgeniia KAZBEKOVA (UKR)
8th – Mia KRAMPL (SLO)
9th – Lucia DÖRFFEL (GER)
10th – Zélia AVEZOU (FRA)
11th – Camilla MORONI (ITA)
12th – Laura ROGORA (ITA)
13th – Molly THOMPSON-SMITH (GBR)

Olympic Qualifier Series:
1st – ZHOU Yafei (CHN)
2nd – Aleksandra KALUCKA (POL)
3rd – Rajiah SALLSABILLAH (INA)
7th – Capucine VIGLIONE (FRA)
10th – Manon LEBON (FRA)
12th – Leslie Adriana ROMERO PÉREZ (ESP)
13rd – Beatrice COLLI (ITA)

Olympic Qualifier Series:
1st – LEE Dohyun (KOR)
2nd – Sam AVEZOU (FRA)
3rd – Adam ONDRA (CZE)
4th – Alberto GINÉS LÓPEZ (ESP)
5th – Hannes VAN DUYSEN (BEL)
6th – Paul JENFT (FRA)
8th – Yannick FLOHÉ (GER)
9th – Hamish MCARTHUR (GBR)
10th – Sascha LEHMANN (SUI)
11th – Alexander MEGOS (GER)
12th – Luka POTOCAR (SLO)
13th – PAN Yufei (CHN)

Olympic Qualifier Series:
1st – WU Peng (CHN)
2nd – Veddriq LEONARDO (INA)
3rd – Amir MAIMURATOV (KAZ)
6th – Zachary HAMMER (USA)
7th – Reza ALIPOUR SHENAZANDIFARD (IRI)
8th –Yaroslav TKACH (UKR)
11th – SHIN Euncheol (KOR)

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p. 15

Discipline Explainer
Speed
•
•
•
•
•

Raced on a 15m wall
Two phases to a competition – qualification and final
Qualification Seeding Heats – the point is to get to the top the quickest
Qualification Elimination Heats – beat your opponent, but also time is importantwith one ‘fastest loser’ through to finals
Finals – beat your opponent

Qualification

Qualification at Paris 2024 is a little different to the regular IFSC World Cup format as
entry numbers are restricted to 14.
For this event there is two phases to qualification.
The first you race for the best time to set up the pairings for the second phase. So as
normal, the first phase is based purely on time.
The second phase is then elimination racing (similar to finals), but with the added
incentive to race for time as one ‘fastest loser’ goes through to finals
FinalsKnock out race format

Time and finishing position from qualification gives you your opponent (1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3v 6 etc)
Although time is important here, it’s all about beating your opponent and progressing
to the next round
With eight athletes in finals there will be a quarter-finals, semi-finals and then ‘small
final’ for bronze medal and ‘big final’ for gold and silver*Because qualification is time based and finals opponent based, world records are
generally seen in qualification – times have dropped dramatically for men andwomen since Tokyo 2020 so expect a lot of Olympic records
p. 16

p. 17

Discipline Explainer
Boulder & Lead
Usually two separate disciplines, they are together for Paris 2024 (and the qualification
events for the Games)First is Boulder – which is problem solving.
There is qualification, semi-final and final. Problems (Boulders) are different for men
and women and reset after each round.
You try to complete the problems in qualification and semi-finals without seeing
them beforehand (isolation). For the final, each competitor gets two minutes to lookat each of the four problems – so a total of eight minutes.
Each competitor will try and solve four problems on a 4m wall in the least number ofattempts. They have five minutes to attempt each Boulder for qualification and semifinals and four minutes for each in the final
Unlike the regular Boulder format, this round has two scoring points on the wall before
reaching the top. Scored out of a possible 100 points (4 Boulders x 25 points each).
Reaching the First Point on the wall is 5 points, reaching the Second Point on the wallis 10 points and making the Top is 25 points.
0.1 is deducted from your score every time you make an attempt eg. make top in firstattempt is 25 points, make top in second attempt is 24.9 points
This score is taken through to the Lead round.
The aim is to go as high as possible in one attempt within six minutes on a 15m(overhanging) wall The competitors can look at each route for six minutes – six for
qualification round, six for semi-final round and six for final round.
There are four scoring sections on the wall, and the higher they climb the more points
they are awarded. Scores are assigned to each hold in descending order, startingfrom the top: the 10 highest holds, including the top, are worth four points each,followed by 10 holds that are worth three points each, 10 that are worth two points
each, and 10 that are worth one point each. Any remaining hold before the start of theroute has no point value. There will be signage on the wall to tell you the sections. An
additional 0.1 points is awarded for using, but not controlling a hold.
Once you have a Boulder and a Lead score they will be added together to give a totalof 200 points. Whomever has the highest total wins.
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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Desak MADE RITA KUSUMA DEWI (INA)

Emma HUNT (USA)

Age: 23
DOB: 24/01/2001
Birthplace: Sambangan, Bali, Indonesia
Hometown: Bekasi, Indonesia

Age: 21
DOB: 01/04/2003
Birthplace: Marietta, Georgia, USA
Hometown: Woodstock, Georgia, USA

Instagram: desakmaderita01 / Athlete page: Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi

Instagram: climbing_emma / Athlete page: Emma Hunt

Part of a strong Indonesian Speed team, Desak Dewi qualified for Paris at the firstattempt by winning the IFSC Climbing World Championships Bern 2023. Her WorldChampionships win was the first gold medal of her senior career. Desak started
climbing at the age of eight after seeing people climbing in her city that piqued
her interest. She started competing at the age of 12 before joining the world circuitin 2020 and becoming part of the Indonesian squad. Despite being fully focussed
on climbing, Desak describes herself as “a fun person, but embarrassed to start a
conversation.” So be sure to approach her and say hello should you see her in Paris!

Emma Hunt is one of the only USA climbers not to live and train in Salt Lake City,
Utah. Growing up and still living in the state of Georgia, Emma began climbing at
the age of five when her father tried a portable wall in a shopping mall. Starting
off competing in Boulder at eight, then Lead at 10, it wasn’t until she was 13 that
she began concentrating on Speed. It wasn’t long before she moved up the
rankings in the international competition circuit, winning the 2019 IFSC Youth WorldChampionships, a senior gold at the 2022 World Games and a first IFSC World Cup
in 2024 in Salt Lake City. Emma secured her place at Paris 2024 by keeping her nerve
and taking advantage of a slip from world record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw at thesemi-final stage of the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Bern. That win
put her into the final, guaranteeing her one of the two Olympic spots from the event(she ended up finishing second overall). Away from climbing, Emma is a big fan of
baking, which she finds relaxing.

Fun fact: Desak says she finds it difficult to stop herself laughing while watching funny
videos.

Fun fact: Emma lists climber Alex Johnson, skier Mikaela Shiffrin and swimmer Katie
Ledecky as her heroes for their work in equality, mental health and empowering
women.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Aleksandra MIROSLAW (POL)

Piper KELLY (USA)

Age: 30
DOB: 02/02/1994
Birthplace: Lublin, Poland
Hometown: Lublin, Poland

Age: 24
DOB: 03/10/1999
Birthplace: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Instagram: ola_miroslaw / Athlete page: Alexandra Miroslaw

Instagram: piper.climbs / Athlete page: Piper Kelly

The women’s Speed world record holder has been the one to beat for some time. A
multiple World Cup winner, Miroslaw has lowered her own world record on numerous
occasions – however, missing out on Olympic qualification at the IFSC Climbing WorldChampionships took its toll mentally on the Polish climber. Confessing that she wentaway and evaluated her mental approach to climbing after missing out really helped
Miroslaw as she came back to qualify for her second Olympic appearance (shefinished fourth at Tokyo 2020 and is the Olympic Speed record holder) by claiming
yet another world record at the IFSC European Qualifier Rome 2023. Miroslaw began
climbing in 2007 after being inspired by her sister Gosia and wanting to make her
proud. She began competing on the international circuit in 2009, winning the first ofher 11 World Cup golds in 2012 before going on to win two World Championships titles,
in 2018 and 2019. Miroslaw is also a graduate of the Warsaw University of Physical
Education (2023) and University of Technology in Lublin (2017).

American Piper Kelly lists her greatest achievement so far as becoming the PanAm
Games champion in 2023, and it just so happens that that was the event and title
that secured her spot at Paris 2024. Piper is and always has been a sport lover. She
played volleyball and football, swam, and did cross country as a child, as well as
the sport that has taken her to the Olympic Games. Her climbing journey began in2006 with her father and sister as a way to spend time together as a family, and that
progressed into national competitions in 2011, Youth Worlds in 2016 and a first World
Cup in 2018. Despite a major shoulder injury in 2019 that resulted in surgery in 2020
and a year-and-a-half rehabilitation, Piper still tests the boundaries with climbing
and powerlifting. Piper has some lucky hairstyles that we be on display at Paris 2024 she usually has some lucky clothing as well, but the Team USA kit will take precedence
this time around.

Fun fact: Aleksandra really likes building LEGO blocks as it helps her rest, relax andrecuperate.

p. 22

Fun fact: Piper is a self-confessed crazy cat lady.

p. 23

Athletes Bios [Speed]
DENG Lijuan (CHN)

Sarah TETZLAFF (NZL)

Age: 24
DOB: 12/05/2000
Birthplace: Hunan Province, China
Hometown: Hunan Province, China

Age: 24
DOB: 18/04/2000
Birthplace: Lower Hutt, New ZealandHometown: Tauranga, New ZealandInstagram: denglijuan512 /Athlete page: Deng Lijuan

Instagram: capa_climb /Athlete page: Sarah Tetzlaff

With no fewer than eight IFSC World Cup podium finishes (five gold, three bronze)
to her name since July 2022, People Republic of China’s Deng Lijuan is definitely one
to keep an eye out for at Paris 2024. A former Asian Youth and Chinese National
champion, Lijuan qualified for the Games by winning the IFSC Asian Qualifier Jakarta
2023 in a time of 6.98. Deng says the athlete she admires most is 110m hurdler Liu
Xiang, and she hopes to catch some of the athletics competition as well as swimmingand table tennis during her off days at Paris 2024. Although she describes her self asquite ‘lively’ Lijuan also say’s she is quite an ‘indoorsy’ person. Away from climbing,
Lijuan’s hobbies include baking and photography.

Wanting to try a sport more “fun and positive” after seven years of gymnastics, New
Zealander Sarah Tetzlaff has her brother to thank for getting into climbing. It wasyounger sibling Will whose energy and enthusiasm for the sport attracted Sarah to try,and she hasn’t looked back since. She started in 2012, took part in her first nationals in
2016, first continentals in 2017 and first worlds in 2018. And it was the continental routethat would prove to be her path to Paris 2024 when she won the Oceania qualifier in
Melbourne, Australia courtesy of a “massive personal best” in the final race against
home favourite Grace Crowley. Looking back at her journey, Sarah remembers somerather large obstacles that had to be overcome, including the fact that there wasn’t
even a Speed wall in her country as late as 2018 and COVID-19 putting a stop to herinternational competition with travel being restricted in New Zealand. A turning pointcame in 2021 when her coach created a Speed climbing programme with the aimof getting climbers to the LA 2028 Olympics. Sarah and teammate Julian David are
graduates of said programme, reaching the goal four years earlier than expected.

Fun fact: Lijuan’s favourite musician is the “King of Mandopop” Jay Chou.

Fun fact: Sarah wears unmatched socks every day.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Aniya HOLDER (RSA)ZHOU Yafei (CHN)

Age: 22 (will be turning 23 during the Games)
DOB: 03/08/2001
Birthplace: Grahamstown, South Africa
Hometown: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Age: 20
DOB: 15/05/2004
Birthplace: Lishui, China
Hometown: Ningbo, China

Instagram: aniya_in_a_climbing_world / Athlete page: Aniya Holder

Instagram: hou_ya_fe_i / Athlete page: Yafei Zhou

Aniya Holder knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity. After suffering twoserious injuries in late 2021 and early 2022 that permanently derailed her Boulder
and Lead aspirations, Holder switched to Speed Climbing, which she found easieron her tendons and ligaments. A scant two years later she’s in Paris representing her
country at the Olympic Games. If injuries weren’t enough, Aniya says she practices
on a Speed wall that is only one-third the official size, which poses its own unique setof challenges. Despite it all, Aniya qualified for Paris 2024 by winning the IFSC African
Qualifier in Pretoria, South Africa last year. She names her father and brother as twoof her biggest inspirations, and while she comes into the Games with no expectations,her goal is to learn as much as she can from her Olympic experience in Paris.

Yafei began climbing in 2017 at the age of 13, the same year that Paris was awarded
the Olympic Games. Now she heads to Paris as one of seven Chinese climbers andready to leave her mark after securing her place at the Games by winning the Olympic
Qualifier Series event in Shanghai and backing that up with a second-place finish at
the event in Budapest. The optimistic and outgoing Yafei is ready to fully enjoy her
Olympic experience and hopes to return to China with a medal.
Fun fact: Yafei wears a red string on her right wrist as a lucky charm.

Fun Fact: Aniya is a drummer and an artist as well as a climber, and she sells her art
when she can - halfalien_art

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Aleksandra KALUCKA (POL)

Rajiah SALLSABILLAH (INA)

Age: 22
DOB: 25/12/2001
Birthplace: Tarnów, Poland
Hometown: Tarnów, Poland

Age: 25
DOB: 30/04/1999
Birthplace: Tangerang, Indonesia
Hometown: Jakarta, Indonesia

Instagram: Aleksandra_kalucka / Athlete page: Aleksandra Kalucka

Instagram: Rajiahsallsabillah / Athlete page: Rajiah Sallsabillah

Born on Christmas Day 2001, Aleksandra has been climbing alongside her twin
Natalia since the age of eight. She will compete in her first Games without her sister,
however, as only one Polish quota spot remained heading into the Olympic Qualifier
Series after compatriot Alexandra Miroslaw’s earlier victory at the European Qualifierin Rome. The twins battled tooth and nail in Shanghai and Budapest, but in the end
it was Aleksandra who did enough to secure the final Polish ticket to Paris by placing
second overall. A well-known face on the climbing circuit, Aleksandra has been
competing in IFSC events since the European Youth Cup in 2015 in her home country.
Until now, she proudly lists the highlight of her career as being the final of the 2022
World Cup in Edinburgh, where she raced against her sister, winning in a time of 7.47.
She has no expectations for Paris, but is looking forward to meeting other athletes,
especially hurdlers, and becoming an Olympian.

It’s all about family for female speedster Rajiah. Having started the sport at the ageof 13 by following in the footsteps of her older sister, she went on to join the nationalteam in 2017, taking part in her first IFSC World Cup in Villars, Switzerland the same
year. And she’ll be surrounded by “family” in Paris, at least her definition of the term,
which includes not only parents, sister and brother, but also her support system of
teammates (there will be three other Indonesian climbers at the Games), coaches,
friends and the Indonesian public. Having won gold at the 2023 World Cup in
Chamonix, France she is excited that Speed has become a standalone discipline at
Paris 2024 and will be hoping for a repeat of her best performance on French soil. As
a student of computer systems and sports education, if Rajiah wasn’t a climber she
would like to be an e-sports athlete.

Fun Fact: Aleksandra is a Swiftie.

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Fun Fact: Rajiah always brings drinking water from Indonesia to competitions.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Capucine VIGLIONE (FRA)

Manon LEBON (FRA)

Age: 21
DOB: 09/12/2002
Birthplace: Marseille, France
Hometown: Voiron, France

Age: 19
DOB: 14/03/2005
Birthplace: Saint-Pierre, Réunion
Hometown: Le Tampon, Réunion

Instagram: Capucine.viglione / Athlete page: Capucine Viglione

Instagram: _manon_lebon / Athlete page: Manon Lebon

Growing up, Capucine climbed everywhere in her house, so it was a natural
progression when she reached the age of five that she wanted to do the same as
her older brother and “officially” start climbing. It wasn’t long before she took partin her first event, a lead competition for children, in which she finished second. Her
desire to win became crystal clear at the end of this competition as she remembers
crying a lot for losing out on gold. In 2016, at the age of 13, Capucine took part in her
first IFSC event, the European Youth Championships in Mitterdorf, Austria, finishingeighth. Since then, she has been a regular on the Speed wall at IFSC events. In 2021,
the sudden loss of her big brother pushed her to train harder, and earlier this year at
the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, her efforts were rewarded as she secured
her place at Paris 2024 and the chance to compete at a home Games. She describes
the Olympics as the biggest sport event that she will ever take part in as a Frenchathlete and is looking forward to the crowd cheering for her.

Hailing from Réunion, French teen Manon Lebon lists participating at a home Olympic
Games as one of the two greatest achievements of her young career. The othershows just how young she is – winning the Youth Worlds title in 2022 in Dallas, Texas,
USA. Now 19, Manon came through the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) with teammate
Capucine Viglione to complete the French quota in women’s Speed. Manon wears a
flower to represent her island, and is big on friends and family, whom she is grateful tofor their support. She hopes to catch skateboarding and breaking in Paris because offriends she made in these sports at the two-part OQS. She trains with a team of eightclimbers back home that “makes hard times easier and the good ones even better.”
Fun fact: Manon’s lucky number is 95, which is Flash McQueen’s number in the movie‘Cars.’ And she has the tattoo to prove it.

Fun Fact: Capucine started skiing when she was one.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Leslie Adriana ROMERO PÉREZ (ESP)

Beatrice COLLI (ITA)

Age: 26
DOB: 18/03/1998
Birthplace: San Juan De Los Morros, Venezuela
Hometown: Alicante, Spain

Age: 19
DOB: 10/10/2004
Birthplace: Sondrio, Italy
Hometown: Lecco, Italy

Instagram: lesromeroclimb / Athlete page: Leslie Adriana Romero Pérez

Instagram: beacolliss / Athlete page: Beatrice ColliA dual Venezuelan and Spanish national, Leslie was first introduced to climbing at theage of six, when she was offered a week trial at the local climbing club in Venezuela. Herroute to the Olympics has not been without significant challenges. Facing a difficult
situation in Venezuela in 2022 and struggling to balance family life and support aclimbing dream, the family decided to move to Spain. The Spanish Federation andcoach David Macia gave her the opportunity to show her potential and continue her
Olympic dream. That dream started to become reality when she finished seventh atthe 2023 World Championships in Bern, Switzerland and she was one step closer toOlympic qualification. She secured qualification at the Olympic Qualifier Series witha 12th-place finish. Referencing Rafael Nadal as one of her sporting heroes, she will
now have the opportunity to be part of the same Spanish Olympic delegation in Paris.

Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is one of Beatrice Colli’s favourite songs.
Having qualified for Paris with a 13th-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier Series, the19-year-old Italian is happily preparing for her Olympic Games debut eight years
after she first took part in an IFSC event at the European Youth Championships inGermany as an 11-year-old. Suffering from a heel problem that prevents her fromwearing normal climbing shoes hasn’t stopped her from excelling at the sport, withher most recent success being silver at the European Cup in Lublin, Poland earlier
this year. Beatrice started training with Ecuador’s Andrea Rojas and Italian, WorldChampion, and fellow Olympian-to-be Matteo Zurloni, who helped her realise theOlympic dream could become a reality. Creative by nature, Colli loves painting andcreating her own art, and promises to give her hairstyle the attention it deserves tohelp her feel ready ahead of competing.

Fun fact: Leslie, whose nickname is ‘Lili’, paints her nails specifically for eachcompetition, which allows her to fulfil, albeit in a small way, her childhood dream ofbeing a fashion designer.

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Fun fact: Beatrice loves hamsters and has one called Tomoa (like the Tomoa Skip
opening move pioneered by Tomoa Narasaki of Japan).

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Janja GARNBRET (SLO)

Jessica PILZ (AUT)

Age: 25
DOB: 12/03/1999
Birthplace: Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia
Hometown: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Age: 27
DOB: 22/11/1996
Birthplace: Amstetten, Austria
Hometown: Innsbruck, Austria

Instagram: janja_garnbret / Athlete page: Janja Garnbret

Instagram: jessy_pilz / Athlete page: Jessica Pilz

The face of Sport Climbing for as long as anyone can remember, Janja Garnbret
hardly needs an introduction. She’s the reigning Olympic champion, one of four
climbing medallists from Tokyo 2020 to return at Paris 2024. She qualified for her
second Games by winning the Boulder & Lead competition at the IFSC WorldChampionships Bern 2023, where she also struck gold in Boulder and silver in Leadfor good measure. Simply put, Janja’s got a track record that any athlete in any othersport would be proud of. The last time she didn’t finish either first or second at an IFSC
event? July 2021, when she placed 13th in Speed, a discipline she only became familiar
with in preparation for her Olympic debut in Tokyo (where Speed, Boulder and Leadwere a combined event). One of the most accomplished climbers of all time, Janjasays she used to climb on everything as a child – trees, doors, closets, any place thatwas higher than her. Her first taste of Sport Climbing as an organised activity came in2006 when her parents signed her up at a club in her hometown. A natural talent, sheparticipated in the Slovenian national championships just a year later, and in 2013
she entered (and won) her first IFSC competition: the European Youth Championshipin Grindelwald, Switzerland. Now an eight-time World Champion, Olympic Champion,
multiple World Cup champion and much more, it’s hard to believe that Janja is still
only 25 years old. Not to mention human – one that enjoys hanging out with friends,
shopping and watching Netflix in her free time.

Jessica Pilz is set for her second Olympic appearance and will be looking to improveon her seventh-place finish at Tokyo 2020. Like so many of the Boulder & Lead climbers,
Jessica feels her chances of a podium finish are much better now that Speed is aseparate discipline at Paris 2024. Qualifying for the Games at her first opportunity at
the World Championships in Bern, Jessica excels in Lead, but is just as comfortablein Boulder. Her achievements include being crowned the IFSC Lead World Cup Series
winner in 2023 and becoming a World Champion in her now hometown of Innsbruckin 2018 – this following the most serious injury of her career, a broken ankle sufferedin 2017. Jessica has always been one for competition. She started climbing in 2005 aspart of a holiday programme and her first competition came the same year. Looking
forward to one of the biggest events of her career, Jessica is excited to perform infront of an Olympic crowd, something that she couldn’t do last time out because of
the pandemic. She is also eager to get back to the Olympic Village, where she wasreally impressed by the diversity of athletes – both in terms of body types and how
they all prepare differently for their events.
Fun fact: Jessica doesn’t have a favourite song because she says when she plays atune too much, she starts to hate it.

Fun Fact: Janja claims to have never had a headache in her life.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
MORI Ai (JPN)

Oriane BERTONE (FRA)

Age: 20
DOB: 17/09/2003
Birthplace: Kanagawa, Japan
Hometown: Ibaraki, Japan

Age: 19
DOB: 10/03/2005
Birthplace: Nice, France
Hometown: Paris, France

Athlete page: Ai Mori

Instagram: oriane_bertone / Athlete page: Oriane Bertone

Ai began her climbing journey at the age of six after discovering a climbing wallinside a shopping mall and instantly fell in love with the sport. She started competing
early, participating in the 2017 Asian Youth Championship while still in elementary
school, successfully winning the Lead competition. Two months later, she travelled to
Innsbruck for the World Youth Championships and again won the Lead competition,
well and truly announcing her arrival on the international scene. Last year at the WorldChampionships in Bern, Switzerland she again triumphed in the Lead competition andin doing so secured her ticket for Paris 2024. Though she missed out on competing at
Tokyo 2020, Ai is eagerly anticipating her Olympic debut in Paris and especially the
lively atmosphere. She heads to Paris in top form, having won the Lead competitionat the World Cup event in Chamonix in July and finishing second in Lead two weeks
earlier in Innsbruck. Outside of climbing, Ai is studying physical education at university
and enjoys cooking and baking.

Nineteen-year-old Oriane Bertone qualified for her home Olympics by winning
the IFSC Boulder & Lead European Qualifier in Laval, France in 2023. Becoming an
Olympian is the crowning achievement (so far) of the young Frenchwoman’s Sport
Climbing career, but with home-wall advantage in Paris, who knows what heights she
can reach? After being introduced to climbing at the age of eight, Oriane instantly fellin love with the sport. Winning the first international competition she ever entered –the 2019 European Youth Cup in Soure, Portugal – helped to stoke the fire still further,and she’s been adding to her collection of medals ever since. Off the wall, the reigning
French Boulder champion (2023 and 2024) is most often found in the kitchen, as sheloves cooking, especially for other people. In fact, if she wasn’t a full-time climber,
Oriane says she would definitely be a professional chef: “Every free minute I get, I
cook!” No surprise to learn, then, that her favourite gifts are “anything edible.” Could
her next bite be of an Olympic medal? Stay tuned!

Fun fact: Ai has a part-time job at a bakery and is very much looking forward tosampling Parisian croissants.

Fun fact: Oriane is obsessed with Dachshunds, in particular her adopted pet Yuna,
whom she hopes to one day help become famous.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Natalia GROSSMAN (USA)ZHANG Yuetong (CHN)

Age: 23
DOB: 22/06/2001
Birthplace: Santa Cruz, California, USA
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Age: 21
DOB: 22/02/20023
Birthplace: Shenzhen, China
Hometown: Shenzhen, China

Instagram: natalia_grossman / Athlete page: Natalia Grossman

Social media: zyue_tong / Athlete page: Zhang Yuetong

Already one of the most decorated US climbers in sport climbing history, 23-yearold Natalia Grossman has won an impressive 10 IFSC World Cup titles and is the
Boulder World Champion from 2021. Qualifying for Paris via the Pan American Games
Santiago 2023, where she won the B&L event, these will be the first Olympic Games
for Natalia, who says she looks forward to staying at the Athlete Village and hopefully
meeting her sporting hero Simone Biles. Natalia herself was a competitive gymnast
before focusing full-time on climbing, a sport she first tried at the age of six. A Boulder
powerhouse with all the attributes to take her deep into Olympic Boulder & Leadcompetition, Natalia points to her successes at the 2021 IFSC World Championship in
Moscow as the highlight of her sporting career thus far: “It was the conclusion of myfirst year on the World Cup circuit and the event was more glorious than anything I’dever competed in before … walking away with the gold medal in Boulder and the silver
medal in Lead was an indescribable feeling.” Away from the wall, Natalia graduatedwith a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2022 and plans to return to school to
obtain her master’s degree, with an eye to one day becoming a sports psychologist
or mental health therapist.

Zhang Yuetong’s career highlight to date is a win at an IFSC event in Jakarta, Indonesia– it just so happens that that event was the Paris 2024 qualifier for the Asian region.
That win secured Yuetong’s Olympic Games participation in what will be a long way
from the climbing wall the then four-year-old saw and tried in front of a shopping
mall in her hometown. After that, it wasn’t long before Yuetong started competing,although it was at fun competitions at the age of six rather than anything too serious
to start. The more serious competitions began in 2018 when Yuetong made the youth
international events and in a busy 2019 calendar for the Chinese climber, she brokesome bones in her fingers – she says she is “fully recovered”. In Paris Yuetong isaiming for a finals spot, and will be hoping her climbing hero, Japan’s Ai Mori, is also
there – Yuetong confesses to loving the “special style” of Ai. Away from competition
Yuetong loves to cook and loves her cats.
Fun fact: Yuetong is hoping to get time to watch the Table Tennis and Diving in Paristo cheer on the Chinese teamFun Fact: Natalia grew up speaking Spanish, although she’s a little rusty at it. She
invites any Spanish speakers who see her at Paris 2024 to introduce themselves so
she can practice. ¡Vamos!

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Oceania MACKENZIE (AUS)

Lauren MUKHEIBIR (RSA)

Age: 22
DOB: 11/07/2002
Birthplace: Heidelberg, Germany
Hometown: Bern, Switzerland / Melbourne, Australia

Age: 22
DOB: 08/10/2001
Birthplace: Johannesburg, South Africa
Hometown: Perth, Australia

Instagram: oceana_climbing / Athlete page: Oceania Mackenzie

Instagram: Laurenmukheibir / Athlete page: Lauren Mukheibir

From a family of climbers, the 22-year-old has been climbing since she was eightor nine years old and took part in her first IFSC event in 2016 at the World YouthChampionships in China. She will compete in her second Olympics having qualified
from the Oceania qualifier in Melbourne in 2023. Having lived in Japan for some time,competing at the Games in Tokyo was extra special and she describes it as being “awild experience.” Feeling stronger than in the past, Oceania will be hoping to improveon her 19th place finish in Tokyo this time around. A keen sports fan, Oceania is looking
forward to watching gymnastics, diving and skateboarding while in Paris. Away fromsport you can find her cooking, baking, reading and doing yoga.

South Africa will be ably represented at Paris 2024 by 22-year-old Lauren Mukheibir,
who qualified for the Games by claiming the Boulder & Lead title at the IFSC African
Qualifier Pretoria 2023. Equally comfortable on the Boulder, Lead, or Speed wall, Lauren
is a versatile climber with the potential to pull a few surprises in the French capital.
She first started climbing in 2010 at the age of 9 and entered her first competition
just a few years later. Lauren considers herself an underdog heading into Paris 2024
and intends to make the most of her Olympic appearance by gaining international
knowledge and experience. For luck, Lauren puts her hair into two Dutch braids while
competing, adding South African-patterned ribbons in a nod to her nationality. An
avid scuba diver and snorkeller, Lauren attained a degree in marine biology last year
and says that if she wasn’t a climber, she would spend her days underwater doing
research.

Fun fact: Check out Oceania’s footwear when she’s not on the climbing wall as sheloves buying sneakers.

(Not So) Fun Fact: Lauren has had more surgeries than birthdays in her life (23 vs. 22)... yet she has never broken a bone.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Brooke RABOUTOU (USA)NONAKA Miho (JPN)

Age: 23
DOB: 09/04/2001
Birthplace: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado, USA

Age: 27
DOB: 21/05/1997
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan

Instagram: brookeraboutou / Athlete page: Brooke Raboutou

Instagram: nonaka_miho / Athlete page: Nonaka Miho

The daughter of two professional climbers, it is no surprise that Brooke started
climbing as soon as she could walk. She first began competing nationally aged
seven and joined the international circuit at 14 when she took part in the Youth WorldChampionships in Arco, Italy in 2015. There she competed in all three disciplines,
finishing fourth, fifth and 16th in Lead, Boulder and Speed respectively. Since then, she
has been no stranger to the podium and arrives in Paris for her second Olympic Games
in great form, having won the Boulder & Lead competition at both Olympic Qualifier
Series events in Shanghai and Budapest. Brooke graduated from the University of San
Diego in January 2023, majoring in marketing and minoring in psychology.

Miho Nonaka heads to Paris for a very different Games experience. Competing during
the pandemic in 2021 – the first Games for climbing and in her home city of Tokyo –she felt incredible tension – but despite this, Miho came away with a silver medal.
This time around, the 27-year-old will be hoping to enjoy the Games and add another
Olympic medal to her collection. Miho started competing at the age of nine andsecured her qualification for Paris at the Olympic Qualifier Series, where she finishedsecond overall. Miho’s strength is Boulder, she won the World Games in 2022 andtook gold at the IFSC World Cup Seoul 2023, but she is also strong in the combinedformat. She finished second in a strong Asian continental qualifier and was fourthin Shanghai and second in Budapest for the OQS events. Miho is also known on the
climbing circuit for her hair – she can be seen with a new adventurous colour, and weare sure the Olympic Games will be no different, so keep a look out for which colour
she chooses. In her down time, Miho loves to take care of her plants.

Fun fact: Brooke says she would be a gymnast if she wasn’t a climber and will
therefore be keeping a close eye on the gymnastics competition at Paris 2024.

Fun Fact: Miho loves cats and coffee so you may just find her in le Café des Chats inher downtime in Paris.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Erin MCNEICE (GBR)

SEO Chaehyun (KOR)

Age: 20
DOB: 06/04/2004
Birthplace: Norwich, Great Britain
Hometown: Sheffield, Great Britain

Age: 20
DOB: 01/11/2003
Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Instagram: erinmcbeast / Athlete page: Erin Mcneice

Instagram: chaehyun.s / Athlete page: Chaehyun Seo

Erin started climbing at age five when her parents took her and her brother to a local
climbing wall. She also began competing at a young age, making the podium at her
first national lead competition before joining Team GB. At the end of the 2023 season,
Erin knew she needed to improve if she was going to achieve her goals. Having neverstood on the podium at an IFSC competition, 2024 has been a breakthrough year for
Erin, making two World Cup finals in 2024, finishing third in both Olympic Qualifying
Series events, and securing her spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which she describes
as an “exhilarating achievement.” Outside of climbing, she has a strong interest in
astronomy and astrophysics but has chosen not to put off university studies to focus
on climbing. In her downtime, Erin enjoys reading and is passionate about space.
She also has a fondness for gymnastics, which she practiced before joining the GB
climbing team. Her dad was also a competitive gymnast. Looking ahead to Paris 2024,
Erin anticipates an intense and exciting experience, and eagerly awaits the chance toclimb on the Olympic stage.

Seo Chaehyun qualified for Paris 2024 thanks to a fourth-place finish at the Olympic
Qualifier Series in Shanghai and Budapest earlier this year. Her Olympic debut at
Tokyo 2020 saw her place eighth overall, but she admitted her experience in Japan
was a little tense due to the pandemic and accompanying restrictions. This timearound, Chaehyun expects a more festival-like atmosphere, which she hopes willtranslate into a better performance in the Boulder & Lead competition. Chaehyun
started climbing at her parent’s gym at age six, and she benefits greatly from the factthat her dad is not only her coach but the coach of other national team climbers as
well, including the decorated Jain Kim. When it comes to career highlights, becominga World Champion in Lead in 2021 is the clear winner. Away from the wall, Chaehyun
likes drawing, colouring, dancing and karaoke.
Fun fact: Chaehyun is a big fan of K-pop and Hip Hop and names South Koreanrapper Lee Young Ji as her favourite musician.

Fun Fact: Erin spent a lot of her childhood living in Asia and the Asian World Cups areher favourite events.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
LUO Zhilu (CHN)

Ievgeniia ‘Jenya’ KAZBEKOVA (UKR)

Age: 18
DOB: 11/01/2006
Birthplace: Beijing, China
Hometown: Shenzhen, China

Age: 27
DOB: 15/10/1996
Birthplace: Dnipro, Ukraine
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Instagram: Luozhilu_lucy / Athlete page: Luo Zhilu

Instagram: jenya_kazbekova / Athlete page: Ievgeniia Kazbekova

A shopping trip in 2012 at the age of six is where Zhilu’s climbing story begins. It wasthere that she found a climbing wall and got her first taste of the sport. Four years
later she began competing competitively and at her very first IFSC event in 2022,
the Climbing World Cup in Brixen, Italy she won bronze in the boulder competition– an impressive way to kickstart her international career. Before qualifying for Paristhrough the Olympic Qualifier Series, Zhilu never thought she had the experience orconfidence to make it. Now she has the opportunity to put in her best performanceon the biggest sporting stage in the world and maybe also find herself on the podium
at the end.

Sixth place at the Olympic Qualifier Series unlocked a flight to Paris for Ukraine’s
Ievgeniia ‘Jenya’ Kazbekova. Following in the footsteps of her parents, both of whomwere professional climbers, Jenya first clambered up a wall at age eight. Now 27, Jenya
is a veteran of the IFSC circuit, having first taken part in an IFSC Youth competition
when she was 14. Her last victory came in Boulder at the NEOM IFSC Masters 2023 in
November, and in addition to her solid showing at the OQS, Jenya also finished fourthin the Boulder & Lead competition at the IFSC European Qualifier Laval 2023. Jenya
says she will arrive in Paris with a fresh and open mind and no expectations – aside
from hoping to catch the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. A music school graduate
in piano, Jenya is currently studying psychology with an eye to one day becoming asports psychologist/therapist.

Fun fact: Zhilu loves Japanese food, but doesn’t like anything spicy.

Fun Fact: Jenya’s heroes are Michelle Obama and American author Glennon Doyle,
who have taught her to be strong, fierce and brave.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Mia KRAMPL (SLO)

Lucia DÖRFFEL (GER)

Age: 24
DOB: 21/07/2000
Birthplace: Kranj, Slovenia
Hometown: Golnik, Slovenia

Age: 24
DOB: 22/03/2000
Birthplace: Chemnitz, Germany
Hometown: Munich, Germany

Instagram: mia.krampl / Athlete page: Mia Krampl

Instagram: lucia.doerffel / Athlete page: Lucia Dorffel

A two-time Olympian, Mia Krampl arrives in Paris aiming to improve on her 18th-placefinish at Tokyo 2020. She has a number of recent Top 10 finishes to help her case,although her last podium finish at an IFSC event was a bronze in Lead at the 2022
World Cup in Jakarta. A month earlier she claimed silver in Boulder & Lead at the
IFSC Europe Continental Championships in Munich, so Mia clearly has what it takes
to finish high up the leaderboard at Le Bourget Climbing Venue if she brings her A
game to Paris. Mia began climbing in apple trees in her grandparents’ garden before
graduating to a small warm-up wall used by her older brother. The rest is history. Her
first youth national competition came in 2008 when she was eight years old, followed
by her first international youth competition seven years later. Mia qualified for Paris2024 thanks to an eighth-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier Series (seventh in
Budapest and 12th in Shanghai). Describing her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 as a
dream come true, she also admits that it was “way more stressful” than she expected.
“COVID made the whole experience a bit unique, but we could still experience someof the Olympic spirit, Olympic Village and the greatness of Olympic Games.” This timearound, Mia says she will “compete, fight, try to show my best and show how much
I trained for this!” Should she have any free time, you will find Mia cheering on her
Slovenian teammates, regardless of the sport.

Originally from Chemnitz in Eastern Germany, Lucia Dörffel now lives in Munich where
she studies sport science – although she also loves Berlin and will often go to thecapital to train and enjoy the city. Her climbing journey didn’t start in her homelandthough, instead it started in Czechia in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains with her family
when she was three years old. She began competing in 2015, and lists qualifying for
the Olympic Games as her greatest achievement to date. This was indeed a massive
accomplishment considering the fact that she injured her foot three weeks before theOlympic Qualifier Series and will require surgery once Paris 2024 is done. Away fromclimbing, Lucia loves to dance, bake and read. During training she listens to technoand also German and English rap and house music.
Fun fact: One of the things Lucia is most looking forward to at Paris 2024 is the pain
au chocolat.

Fear Fact(or): Despite being one of the world’s best climbers, Mia admits she hasa fear of falling that was severe when she was younger. She was once so scared offalling that she didn’t let go of a hold for two hours. “If I overcame this,” she says, “I canovercome anything in my life!”

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Zélia AVEZOU (FRA)

Camilla MORONI (ITA)

Age: 20
DOB: 10/04/2004
Birthplace: Antony, France
Hometown: Igny, France

Age: 23
DOB: 08/07/2001
Birthplace: Genova, Italy
Hometown: Genova, Italy

Instagram: zelia_avezou / Athlete page: Zélia Avezou

Instagram: camilla.moroni / Athlete page: Camilla Moroni

Zélia and her brother Sam will add their names to the list of famous Olympic siblings
when they compete in their respective Boulder & Lead competitions in Paris. Zélia
began climbing at the age of 6, inspired by her family’s passion for the sport. She
started competing at eight and entered her first IFSC competition at 14, participatingin the European Youth Cup in 2018 where she finished 14th. To date, her career
highlights include making the finals at the World Championship in 2023 where she
finished fourth in the Bouldering competition and qualifying for the Olympics throughthe Olympic Qualifier Series. She heads to Paris in good form, having finished 4th atthe World Cup event in Chamonix in July. In addition to climbing, Zélia studies French
literature at a Parisian university and enjoys training with her brothers and the vibrantclimbing community in Paris. Looking forward to Paris 2024, Zélia is excited to performin front of her home crowd, an experience she expects to remember for the rest of
her life.

Camilla Moroni’s first climbing picture was taken before she was even a month old –a photo taken when her parents took her to a local crag. She would have to wait until
she was 13 before starting to compete in national competitions, before progressing
to a youth international competition a year later and to the IFSC World Cup levelat 18. Being part of the climbing community is a big part of Camilla’s life. When notclimbing solo or with her national team, she loves to train with other climbers on thecircuit like fellow Paris 2024 competitor Zélia Avezou. Camilla also lists another Paris2024 Olympian as her climbing hero - Austria’s Jakob Schubert. She cites the Tokyo
2020 medallist’s mentality and preparation for events as standout points. Before
competing, Camilla loves to listen to Chemical Brothers or Italian rap to get her in the
mood. She also has a passion for photography – so an updated photo at the cragand a few snaps in Paris are definitely in order!

Fun fact: Zélia admires athletes Kim Jain (KOR) and Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), who she
watched compete at World Cup events alongside her mother.

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Fun fact: Camilla skied a lot as a child and loves it – but she doesn’t get to do it asmuch these days.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Laura ROGORA (ITA)

Molly THOMPSON-SMITH (GBR)

Age: 23
DOB: 28/04/2001
Birthplace: Roma, Italy
Hometown: Trento, Italy

Age: 26
DOB: 07/11/1997
Birthplace: London, Great Britain
Hometown: Sheffield, Great Britain

Instagram: Laura.rogora / Athlete page: Laura Rogora

Instagram: mollyts123 / Athlete page: Molly Thompson-Smith

Italy’s Laura Rogora booked her spot at Paris 2024 with a 12th-place finish at the
Olympic Qualifier Series. When she takes to the field of play in Paris, she will become
one of only 17 climbers in the world to appear at two Olympic Games – quite the featin and of itself. She claims the pressure of representing her country got the better ofher at Tokyo 2020, where she placed 15th. Laura will therefore be out for redemption
in Paris, although this time she will be battling the lingering mental aftereffects of abroken wrist and inflamed tendon suffered last year, her first major injury in the sport
she’s been perfecting since the age of five. Laura has all the credentials to suggest a
deep run is not out of the question at Paris 2024. A competitive climber from the ageof seven, she first made headlines outdoors, when at age 14 she became the second
youngest climber in history to scale an elite 9a route. Four years ago, she became
the second woman to climb an even more difficult 9b route. More recently, she wonbronze in the Boulder & Lead competition at the IFSC European Qualifier Laval 2023.
As a student and self-professed fan of mathematics, Laura will be aware that she is
not the odds-on favourite to be crowned Olympic champion in Paris. But with 18 yearsof experience, a world-class skillset and the desire to improve upon her performanceat Tokyo 2020, could it all add up to a podium finish for Laura this summer? Don’t bet
against it.

Molly discovered her passion for climbing at her seventh birthday party, whichsparked the start of what is almost a 20-year dedication to the sport for the now
26-year-old. She began competing in the British Youth Climbing Series in Amersham
in 2006 and made an impression at the European Youth Cup in Edinburgh in 2011,
where she finished 12th in the Lead event. One year later she stood on the podium forthe first time at the European Youth Cup in Moscow, winning bronze. She has goneto make the podium a further eight times since then. The pinnacle of her climbing
career so far has been qualifying for Paris 2024, which she did via the Olympic
Qualifier Series. Molly looks up to Team GB athletics stars Kelly Holmes and Jessica
Ennis-Hill for their incredible achievements and inspirational presence, particularly as
mixed-race athletes who made a significant impact. In the climbing world, Jain Kim
is a major inspiration for her enduring excellence and elegance, highlighted by her
30th World Cup win in Chamonix last year at age 34. In Paris, Molly is excited about
the Olympic Village experience and the atmosphere of a major multi-sport event.
Outside of climbing, Molly enjoys baking, cooking, gardening, and reading.

Fun fact: Laura is a fan of technology and maths, and almost never listens to music.

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Fun fact: Molly played violin in an orchestra for 11 years.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Matteo ZURLONI (ITA)

LONG Jinbao (CHN)

Age: 22
DOB: 20/03/2002
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Hometown: Milan, Italy

Age: 23
DOB: 11/08/2000
Birthplace: Hunan Province, China
Hometown: Hunan Province, China

Instagram: matteozurlonss / Athlete page: Matteo Zurloni

Athlete page: Long Jinbao

Reigning IFSC World Speed Champion Matteo Zurloni was introduced to the sport asa five-year-old, taking inspiration from his grandfather, an accomplished alpinist. He
first began competing at age eight and participated in his first senior IFSC event only
two years ago in June 2022. He quickly established a name for himself by finishing
fourth in that competition, before claiming gold later the same month at the IFSC
Europe Continental Cup in Innsbruck, Austria. Matteo has been on a steady upward
trajectory ever since, culminating in his victory at last year’s World Championshipin Bern, Switzerland, where he also earned his ticket to the Olympic Games. Matteo
admires champions such as Usain Bolt, Lebron James, and other leading speed
climbers for the mentality they possess to succeed at the highest level. He adds thatwhile he wants to enjoy his Olympic experience to the fullest, regardless of the result,
he will nevertheless be showing up to the Games in peak condition ready to battle fora podium finish.

Changing sports from kickboxing to climbing at the age of 17 isn’t the easiest
transition, but it hasn’t fazed Jinbao, who has excelled at his “new” sport with plentyof international success. In 2023 he finished second at the World Championships inBern, Switzerland, securing his ticket to the Olympic Games. The speed climber is no
stranger to the podium since beginning his international career, having medalled
six times since the 2022 season. Away from the wall, Jinbao studies at Hunan
University and spends time playing a variety of other sports, including basketballand badminton. He looks forward to life inside the Olympic Village with all the otherathletes from his favourite sports.
Fun fact: If Jinbao wasn’t a climber he thinks he would be a police officer.

Fun fact: Matteo watches a lot of TV series, movies and especially likes anime

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Athletes Bios [Speed]Bassa MAWEM (FRA)

Samuel WATSON (USA)

Age: 39
DOB: 09/11/1984
Birthplace: Kourou, French Guiana
Hometown: Colmar, France

Age: 18
DOB: 27/02/2006
Birthplace: Texas, USA
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Instagram: lesfreresmawemofficiel / Athlete page: Bassa Mawem

Instagram: samuelwatson__ / Athlete page: Samuel Watson

Bassa Mawem set the Olympic Speed record of 5.45 seconds at Tokyo 2020 but had
to bow out of the combined Speed, Lead and Boulder competition early due to injury(a total rupture of his lower biceps tendon), thereby depriving the seven-time Frenchnational champion of a chance to reach the podium. He will therefore be eager tomake amends at Paris 2024, and with Speed now separated from Boulder & Lead, hewill definitely fancy his chances. At 39, Bassa is the oldest climber in the competition,
but that also means he is the most experienced, having first started climbing a full
24 years ago, longer than many of his competitors have been alive. While recovery
from the injury he suffered at Tokyo 2020 was long and arduous, Bassa neverthelessclaimed his sixth national title in 2022 in his first competition back, and won his
seventh crown in 2023, the same year he qualified for Paris by winning the IFSC
European Qualifier in Rome. His sibling Mickael remains Bassa’s biggest inspiration,although unlike at Tokyo 2020, his younger brother did not qualify for Paris and will
not be competing alongside him here. Bassa works 60 hours a week in climbing
development, training both his students and himself, so look for the Speed climbing
legend to be in peak physical condition in Paris for what he has indicated will be hiscompetitive swan song.

Fresh off back-to-back IFSC World Cup victories and a new Speed world record set
earlier this year, Samuel Watson has rocketed into the gold-medal conversation for
Paris 2024. In the last major test ahead of the Games, the 18-year-old posted threetimes under five seconds (4.83, 4.84, 4.88) en route to victory at the World Cup in
Chamonix, France on 13 July. In April, Samuel entered the record books by postinga time of 4.79 seconds during the World Cup in Wujiang, China. The teenager is no
stranger to making headlines: in 2022, he became the youngest climber ever to win
an IFSC World Cup, doing so at the age of 16 in Edinburgh, Scotland. A year later
he qualified for the Olympic Games by winning the Speed event at the 2023 Pan
American Games in Santiago with a time of 5.38. Watson has been climbing since
the age of five and says he has always loved the Olympics, so competing at Paris2024 will be the fulfilment of a life-long dream. A massive basketball fan who cites
Argentina’s Manu Ginóbili and France’s Victor Wembanyama as his favourite players,
Samuel is likely to be found at the Olympic basketball tournament during any off time
he may have in Paris.

Fun Fact: Bassa says he is looking forward to retirement and making the most of hislast competition!

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Fun fact: Samuel says he has an inexplicable streak of grey hair underneath hisbrown mop top.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Rahmad ADI MULYONO (INA)

Julian DAVID (NZL)

Age: 23
DOB: 31/10/2000
Birthplace: Surabaya, Indonesia
Hometown: Bekasi, Indonesia

Age: 19
DOB: 30/01/2005
Birthplace: La Roche-Sur-Yon, France
Hometown: Tauranga, New ZealandInstagram: rahmadadimulyono_ / Athlete page: Rahmad Adi Mulyono

Instagram: Juliandavidnz / Athlete page: Julian David

Often seen fishing and listening to Bob Marley to chill out, you wouldn’t expect
someone so laid back and relaxed to be one of the fastest climbers in the world, but
Rahmad Adi Mulyono certainly falls into that bracket. In a team boasting two former
world record holders in Veddriq Leonardo and Kiromal Katibin, Rahmad peaked atjust the right time for a Paris 2024 ticket. Gaining a maiden win at the World Cup
in Chamonix, France in 2023, he finished third in his next event, the IFSC Climbing
World Championships. That was, unfortunately, one spot outside the two guaranteed
places for the Olympic Games. But they say that three is the magic number, and in hisvery next event he once again returned to the top of the podium at home in Jakarta
at the Asian Qualifier event, securing a trip to the summer spectacular for his efforts.

Paris 2024 will be a sort of homecoming for New Zealand’s Julian David, who was bornin La Roche-Sur-Yon, France to a French father and Kiwi mother. Julian’s language
skills will come in handy at the Games, but it was his climbing skills that earned him
his spot in the Olympic bracket. While the teenager has only been training in Speed
specifically for two years, he has made the most of his short time in the discipline.
He qualified for Paris by winning the Speed competition at the IFSC Oceania Qualifier
Melbourne 2023, only three months after being crowned 2023 Youth World Champion
in Seoul. Julian first got involved in climbing after falling out of a tree as a youngsterand his teacher suggested the school climbing wall might be a safer option. He has
idolised French Speed legend (and fellow Paris 2024 Olympian) Bassa Mawem since
witnessing him in person at an event in Chamonix in 2019. “I thought ‘Wow, one day
I want to be like him and compete with him,’ and now five years later I’m here doing
just that!” Julian says he is grateful to get to experience the Olympic Games at such ayoung age and hopes this will be the first of many trips with the New Zealand Olympic
Team.

Fun fact: If Rahmad wasn’t a climber, he would like to become a gold mining
entrepreneur.

Fun Fact: Julian holds the New Zealand record for muscle ups (26 consecutively) andbroke a 14-year-old record in the standing vertical jump with an effort of 95cm.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Joshua BRUYNS (RSA)WU Peng (CHN)

Age: 20 (will be turning 21 during the Games)
DOB: 01/08/2003
Birthplace: Twickenham, Great Britain
Hometown: Coventry, Great Britain

Age: 21
DOB: 15/10/2002
Birthplace: Hunan Province, China
Hometown: Hunan Province, China

Instagram: joshbruyns / Athlete page: Joshua Bruyns

Athlete page: Wu Peng

Joshua Bruyns is a bit of a superman. In addition to being an Olympian, the South
African is a student of economics, a linguist (English, Spanish, French), and a massive
sports aficionado. Somewhat counterintuitively, his lucky charm is also his Kryptonite:“I use the same [chalk] bucket that I won at a competition when I was 12 and havebecome quite superstitious over it,” he says. “I have zero plans to change to a different
one and if I lose it before the Games, my competition is over before it even started.”Thankfully, his lucky bucket was with him in Pretoria last December, where he stamped
his ticket to the Olympic Games with a Boulder & Lead victory at the IFSC African
Qualifier. While Paris 2024 will be Joshua’s first Games, he will be in familiar company
at Le Bourget Climbing Venue as he used to be a teammate of fellow Olympian Toby
Roberts (GBR) between the ages of 10-13. “We both trained together in a very small
team of around eight kids at a basic wall in Guildford, Surrey called Craggy Island. It
was a very fun, relaxed environment and ignited my love for climbing.”

You won’t find too many former Judo athletes racing up a climbing wall at the elitelevel. But Wu Peng is certainly one of them, having made the switch to climbing in2017. His sporting career took off from there. In 2023, he won the World Cup in Wujiang,
China, breaking the Asian record at the same time. He heads to Paris after a 2024
season that has seen him finish first or second in all his competitions at the time ofwriting. This will be his first Olympics and he is looking forward to experiencing thegames and seeing other athletes and sports in action, particularly athletics as hereferences Usain Bolt as a sporting hero and he hopes to have the opportunity towatch the 100m finals while in Paris.
Fun fact: As well as Bolt, Peng’s sporting hero is former Olympic Gold medallist andWorld Champion 110m hurdler Liu Xiang.

Fun Fact: Joshua can recite where every edition of the Summer Olympic Games has
been or will be held from 1896 through to 2032.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]Veddriq LEONARDO (INA)

Amir MAIMURATOV (KAZ)

Age: 27
DOB: 11/03/1997
Birthplace: Pontianak, Indonesia
Hometown: Bekasi, Indonesia

Age: 29
DOB: 19/07/1995
Birthplace: Semey, Kazakhstan
Hometown: Almaty, Kazakhstan

Instagram: veddriq / Athlete page: Veddriq Leonardo

Instagram: Maimuratov / Athlete page: Amir Maimuratov

Veddriq Leonardo is solidly in the conversation for the title of “world’s fastest climber.”
While the current world record (4.79) is held by USA’s Samuel Watson, Veddriq has
set the pace three times himself since 2021, including the time Watson had to beatto take the crown. Leonardo first topped the world’s fastest list in May 2021 with a 5.21.
He shaved that down to 4.98 in July 2022, before one-upping himself again at the
IFSC World Cup in Seoul in April 2023 with a 4.90. That mark stood for a year before
Watson’s history-making climb in April 2024, and it’s safe to say that Veddriq will belooking to regain the title at Paris 2024. One thing is certain: The Olympic record of 5.45
(set by Bassa Mawem of France at Tokyo 2020) is definitely within striking distance ofthe 27-year-old Indonesian, who began climbing in high school after trying it out aspart of extracurricular activities. He’s been on the rise ever since, going on to become
World Champion in 2022 and a three-time World Cup Season winner from 2021-2023.
He qualified for Paris by finishing second in the Olympic Qualifier Series with a win in
Shanghai and a third-place finish in Budapest. Asked what he is most looking forward
to at his first Olympic Games, Veddriq says patriotically: “The Indonesian national
anthem played in Paris.”

Kazakhstan’s only climber at Paris 2024, Amir Maimuratov makes no bones about hisgoals for Paris 2024: have fun, enjoy every moment, and win a gold medal. Having
placed third at the Olympic Qualifier Series and with some excellent performances
dating back to last year, Amir should be feeling confident heading into his first
Olympic Games. He first got interested in the sport as a youngster after seeing aclimbing wall at a shopping mall during an outing with his family. He points tomultiple World Champion (and current Chinese National Team coach) Zhong Qixin
as his climbing hero, and booking his ticket to the Olympic Games as the proudest
moment of his career thus far. Amir says he prefers to climb solo in silence, but when
he does listen to music it tends to be classical, with Antonio Vivaldi’s Winter being aparticular favourite. Should he have any free time in Paris, Amir is likely to be found at
the basketball or gymnastics competitions.
Fun fact: Amir’s hobbies include maths, physics and solving logic puzzles.

Fun Fact: Veddriq hates raw onions.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Zachary HAMMER (USA)Name: Reza ALIPOUR SHENAZANDIFARD (IRI)

Age: 18
DOB: 29/05/2006
Birthplace: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Age: 30
DOB: 29/04/1994
Birthplace: Qazvin, IranHometown: Qazvin, IranInstagram: climber_zaq / Athlete page: Zachary Hammer

Instagram: rezaalipour.1 / Athlete page: Reza Alipour Shenanzandifard

At age three, most kids are learning to ride tricycles and go to the loo by themselves.
Zachary Hammer at three was already learning toe hooks and hand swaps thanks
to the encouragement of his parents and two older siblings – climbers all. Hammer
started competing at age five and has yet to look back, or down. He participatedin his first IFSC Speed final at the World Championships in Bern last year, one of his
fondest memories to date along with finishing sixth at the Olympic Qualifier Series
and qualifying for the Olympic Games. Hammer is in his element on the wall, as
evidenced by the perma-grin on his face during competitions à la his two climbing
heroes, Emma Hunt and Margo Hayse. “Because when watching these two athletes
climb and compete, they’re smiling, which to be honest can be rare to see in sport.
I have been really inspired by this and it shows. When you watch me compete, I am
always smiling and honestly really enjoying the moment.” Unlike the vast majorityof his peers, Hammer does not listen to upbeat music before competing. Naturally
energetic to begin with, Zachary prefers chill music that calms him down and gets
him in a good mood before he climbs. His favourite genre is indie/folk music andartists such as Noah Kahan, Hozier, and Caamp.

Since starting to climb in 2005, Reza began competing just two years later, making
his mark at the 2011 Asian Championships, where he finished sixth. He returned ayear later to win silver when the event took place in his home country. In 2018 hewon the World Championships in Innsbruck and then had to wait another five years
before winning the Asian Games and the Asian Cup in 2023. He heads to Paris with
Olympic gold his target. Inspired by sports and film legends like Muhammad Ali and
Sylvester Stallone, Reza is motivated by stories of overcoming hardship. His mantra
is to never give up, something he has had to embrace during his career after tearing
a hamstring in competition and suffering a severe toe injury. Outside of climbing heenjoys hiking and bodybuilding and says he would have pursued boxing if it wasn’t
for climbing.
Fun fact: Reza is an animal and nature enthusiast, and you will likely find him listening
to Iranian rap music before competitions.

Fun Fact: Four out of the five members of Zachary’s immediate family have competed
at an IFSC World Cup.

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Athletes Bios [Speed]
Yaroslav TKACH (UKR)

SHIN Euncheol (KOR)

Age: 22
DOB: 31/10/2001
Birthplace: Kremenchuk, Ukraine
Hometown: Kremenchuk, Ukraine / Bytom, Poland

Age: 25
DOB: 27/05/1999
Birthplace: Gwangju, South Korea
Hometown: Bucheon, South Korea

Instagram: TkachYar / Athlete Yaroslav Tkach

Instagram: euncheol_shin / Athlete page: Shin Euncheol

Fate’s a funny thing. If aspiring breakdancer Yaroslav Tkach hadn’t met his futurecoach, a friend of his dad’s, en route to his first dance lesson, he may be in Paris
competing in breaking and not Sport Climbing. “[My dad and I] didn’t even know we
had a climbing wall in my city … and that day I became a climber,” Tkach says. He
was six years old. Yaroslav began competing at age 10, mainly for fun, before getting
his first taste of an IFSC event in 2015. Since then, he’s medalled at the World Games
in 2022 and the World Climbing Military Championship in 2023. He was also the
Ukrainian Speed Climbing Cup winner in 2018, 2019, and 2020, and a former European
Cup overall winner. While Paris 2024 will be Yaroslav’s first Olympic Games, it won’t
be his first Olympic experience, having competed at the Youth Olympic Games in
Buenos Aires in 2018, where he finished 11th in the combined event. He says he expects
the Olympic Games to be “at least as good” as the YOG and is looking forward toliving in the Olympic Village and taking in the “incredible atmosphere” of the Games.
Yaroslav qualified for Paris 2024 by finishing eighth at the Olympic Qualifier Series, animpressive accomplishment considering the many obstacles he has had to face to
get this far, including a lack of training facilities in his country and the ongoing war.

Shin Eunchol, who started climbing in 2014, qualified for his first Olympic Games
with an 11th-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier Series. His best result to date was afourth-place finish at last year’s IFSC World Cup in Wujiang. If you run into Euncheol
in Paris and he’s got his headphones on, chances are he’ll be listening to Disneytunes. Recently he’s had Zootopia’s “Try Everything” on repeat, which is the perfectsoundtrack for his life so far. A travel junkie, Euncheol loves experiencing new places.
On his days off he goes to the mountains or sea to get a boost of natural energy. He
describes Paris as his dream city, so he expects his entire Olympic experience to be
fantastic. Euncheol is most looking forward to seeing the Eiffel Tower with the Olympic
rings. Win or lose, Euncheol’s aim as a climber is to “create positive symbols not onlyin Korea but also in the world.”
Fun fact: Euncheol always acknowledges the officials and audience when he finishes
competing. “This is my lucky routine and it brings me to a great end.”

Fun fact: Yaroslav has been training on his own – without a coach – since 2017.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Jakob SCHUBERT (AUT)Colin DUFFY (USA)

Age: 33
DOB: 31/12/1990
Birthplace: Innsbruck, Austria
Hometown: Aldrans, Austria

Age: 20
DOB: 10/12/2003
Birthplace: Colorado, USA
Hometown: Colorado, USA

Instagram: jakob.schubert / Athlete page: Jakob Schubert

Instagram: colinclimbs / Athlete page: Colin Duffy

Bronze medallist at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Jakob is a well-known andaccomplished athlete within the climbing community. A relative latecomer to thesport, he started climbing at the age of 12 when his godfather introduced him to a
local climbing gym in 2002. Within months, he began competing, and by the ageof 13 he was participating at European Youth Cups, with his first one in Imst, Austria
in 2004. That international competition was the beginning of a remarkable historyof more than 200+ competitions to date. Highlights include his first ascent of the
B.I.G. 9c in Flatanger, Norway, winning bronze at Tokyo 2020, and becoming a double
World Champion (Bern 2023 and Innsbruck 2018). Having already completed hisbachelor’s degree in economics, Jakob’s primary focus is on climbing. Reflecting
on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Jakob recalls the incredible spirit and atmosphere of
the event, which motivated him to strive for Paris 2024, securing his qualification at
the World Championships in Bern last year. If Jakob wasn’t a climber, he would likely
pursue another sport due to his enthusiasm for tennis and athletics. Alternatively,
his interest in mathematics and physics might have led him down a different path.
Beyond climbing, he is passionate about online gaming, movies, television series, andplaying chess.

Mathematician Colin began climbing in 2008 at the age of four, starting out at
local recreation centres and parks near his home in the climbing mecca of Boulder,
Colorado. Supported by his parents, who have always helped him to achieve his
dreams, Colin began competing in the USA Climbing youth circuit before making
his IFSC debut at the 2021 World Youth Championships, where he won gold in the
Lead competition. He followed that up with victory a year later at the World YouthChampionships in Russia. As he entered the senior ranks, Colin’s success streak
continued: winning the PanAms in 2020, both the Boulder and Lead competitions
at the World Cup in Innsbruck in 2022, and most recently the World Cup (Lead)in Chamonix this July. He secured his place at his second Olympic Games with arunner-up finish at the 2023 World Championships in Bern, Switzerland. Colin says his
experience at Tokyo 2020 was incredible thanks to cultural exchanges in the Olympic
Village and the inspiration of seeing climbing on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
For Paris 2024, he looks forward to performing in front of a live crowd and enjoying thefull Olympic Village experience and the rest of Paris.
Fun fact: Colin can solve a Rubik’s Cube in an average of 15 seconds.

Fun fact: A fan of Roger Federer, Jakob appreciates the tennis legend’s attitude, style,and how he presents himself on and off the court. He also finds Roger’s love for his
sport inspirational, as it helped him continue to be successful in tennis late into his
30s.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
NARASAKI Tomoa (JPN)

Toby ROBERTS (GBR)

Age: 28
DOB: 22/06/1996
Birthplace: Tochigi, Japan
Hometown: Ibaraki, Japan

Age: 19
DOB: 15/03/2005
Birthplace: Guildford, Great Britain
Hometown: Elstead, Great Britain

Instagram: tomoa_narasaki / Athlete page: Tomoa Narasaki

Instagram: toby_climbing / Athlete page: Toby Roberts

Inspired by his older brother, Tomoa began climbing at the age of 10 after spending
years as a gymnast. He entered his first climbing competition at age 12 and made hisinternational competition debut at the Asian Youth Championships in Singapore in
2011. For more than a decade, Tomoa has been a familiar face at IFSC competitions
and has achieved considerable success, winning 16 competitions to date. He will
arrive in Paris ranked number five in the Boulder & Lead rankings and will be looking
to improve on his fourth-place finish at Tokyo 2020. Reflecting on his first Olympic
experience, Tomoa recalls the intense emotions of competing in his home country
during Sport Climbing’s Olympic debut but being disappointed with his result. He isaiming for better in Paris. Tomoa is a full-time athlete who trains with various nationalteam members, including his younger brother. Outside of climbing, he likes to use hiscreative flair, especially in photography and videography, which allow him to bringhis passion for cameras and gadgets to life.

Team GB medal hopeful Toby Roberts always seems to be in contention for a podium
finish, regardless of competition. In fact, he’s only finished outside of the top 10 at an
IFSC event once in the 12 months leading up to the Olympic Games. Toby qualified for
Paris 2024 with a win in the Boulder & Lead event at the IFSC European Qualifier Laval
2023, and he is laser-focused on getting the job done at Le Bourget Climbing Venue.
“I’m a full-time climber,” he says. “All or nothing every time.” Toby has been climbing
since he joined an after-school club at the age of eight and became instantly hookedon the sport. His first IFSC competition came in 2019, when he finished fourth in Boulder
at the IFSC European Youth Cup in Soure, Portugal. Since 2022, he has won a total offour IFSC World Cups (two Lead, one Boulder, one Boulder & Lead), with four bronzemedal finishes (three Lead, one Boulder). He names fellow Olympians Jakob Schubert(AUT) and Janja Garnbret (SLO) as his climbing heroes and feels fortunate to be able
to train alongside them throughout the climbing season. Musically, Roberts relieson Eminem and “the Rocky Balboa songs” to get psyched. His goal at Paris 2024 isto try and enjoy as much of the experience as he can without letting it impact his
performance. “I’ll let you know afterwards how that goes.”

Fun fact: Tomoa always wears pink pants on competition days.

Fun Fact: Toby drinks “infinite amounts” of tea and coffee every day and can easily
identify Yorkshire Gold tea in a blind taste test.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Jesse GRUPPER (USA)ANRAKU Sorato (JPN)

Age: 27
DOB: 06/01/1997
Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Age: 17
DOB: 14/11/2006
Birthplace: Chiba, Japan
Hometown: Chiba, Japan

Instagram: yayjesse_g / Athlete page: Jesse Grupper

Social media: anraku_sorato / Athlete page: Anraku Sorato

A 12-year-veteran of the IFSC climbing circuit, Jesse Grupper has 21 years ofexperience on the wall, having been introduced to the sport at age six after initially“being dragged to the gym by my sister.” The New York City native therefore knowsa thing or two about competing at the highest level, so expect Jesse to be largely
unphased by his first Olympic appearance. After all, he’s happy just to have madethe US Olympic squad after tearing his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) last year,
forcing him to compete in the Team Trials while wearing a brace. And let’s not forgetthe ulcerative colitis he’s been battling since 2016 that hospitalised him for about aweek in 2021, leaving Jesse wondering if he would ever climb competitively again.
The Olympic Games, therefore, seem like a just reward for Jesse’s perseverance,
hard work, and ability to keep getting up after being knocked down. He secured his
Olympic berth via the Pan American Games Santiago 2023, where he topped the
podium in the Boulder & Lead competition. Outside of climbing, Jesse is a veritable
Renaissance man. Among other things, he holds a degree in mechanical engineeringfrom Tufts University, works part-time in the Biodesign lab at Harvard University, plays
the banjo, and makes his own granola.

Winning the Asian Qualifier in Jakarta in 2023 and securing his ticket to Paris was
the next step in the Japanese climber’s already successful career. Sorato began
climbing at the age of seven and started competing a year later. At 16 he entered
his first IFSC competition, the 2021 Climbing Youth World Championships, winning theLead competition and finishing second in Boulder. He defended his title a year later
when the event was held in the USA. Since the start of the 2023 season, he has stoodon the podium 12 times and will be hoping to achieve similar success in Paris. Stilla student, Sorato has to balance studies and training, although he says he cannot
imagine doing anything other than climbing.
Fun fact: Sorato’s current music playlist features Drake, Kanye West, and Post Malone.

Fun Fact: Jesse is a firm believer that “chocolate makes the world go round.”

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Campbell HARRISON (AUS)

Mel JANSE VAN RENSBURG (RSA)

Age: 27
DOB: 28/06/1997
Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Age: 22
DOB: 16/09/2001
Birthplace: Melun, France
Hometown: Lyon, France

Instagram: campbell_harrison547 / Athlete page: Campbell Harrison

Instagram: mel.j.v.r / Athlete page: Mel Janse Van Rensburg

Australia’s Campbell Harrison booked his ticket to Paris 2024 by claiming gold at
the IFSC Oceania Qualifier in his hometown of Melbourne last year. In addition toqualifying for the Olympic Games, Campbell says his two consecutive Lead semifinals
in 2023 stand out as highlights in his career to date. His biggest inspiration in the
climbing world is South Korean legend Jain Kim, from whom he learned a great deal
from watching her compete, and whose longevity in the sport he finds empowering.
Campbell thinks his Olympic experience may be a bit of a whirlwind but hopes toenjoy the atmosphere and soak in as much as he can. Campbell’s interests off thewall include LGBTQIA+ advocacy, feminism, and diversity.

Mel Janse van Rensburg grew up in Waterval Boven, South Africa, which is famous for
its red rock-climbing cliffs. He began climbing seriously in boarding school in Pretoria
and started competing in 2015 before taking part in his first IFSC competition, the2018 World Cup in Briançon, France. Career highlights for Mel were sending ‘Speed
Integrale’ (9a), winning the African qualifier in Pretoria, and securing his spot for the
Olympic Games, which will be extra special for the France-born climber who currently
lives in Lyon. Growing up, Mel was fascinated by the Olympics and never expectedthat he would one day take part in one. He says he can’t wait to experience thevibrant atmosphere. An engineering student in Lyon, Janse van Rensburg is currently
attempting to balance training with university life. He enjoys playing the clarinet,chess, and spending time in the mountains.

Fun Fact: Campbell’s hero is Australian feminist and writer Clementine Ford, whose
unapologetic honesty in speaking out for marginalised groups inspires him to keep
learning and to be a better person.

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Fun fact: Despite playing lots of cricket and football when he was younger, Mel saysthat if he wasn’t a climber, he would be a skier.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
LEE Dohyun (KOR)

Sam AVEZOU (FRA)

Age: 21
DOB: 08/10/2002
Birthplace: Jeonju, South Korea
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Age: 23
DOB: 22/03/2001
Birthplace: Chatenay-Malabry, France
Hometown: Igny, France

Instagram: leedo_ss / Athlete page: Lee Dohyun

Instagram: sam_avezou / Athlete page: Sam Avezou

South Korea’s Lee Dohyun is all business when it comes to climbing. But don’t let his
cool demeanour fool you: Dohyun says he loves what he does, he simply doesn’t show
it. “It’s not because I’m angry or offended, it’s because I’m embarrassed,” he says of
his steely countenance, even when topping a medal podium. “I don’t know what to
do with myself.” He sure knows what to do with himself on the wall, however. The
second male climber from South Korea to win a World Cup gold medal (Prague 2023),
Dohyun secured his Olympic ticket with a first-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier
Series in Shanghai and Budapest earlier this year. After taking the first leg in Shanghai,
it was touch and go for Dohyun in Budapest, as he injured his shoulder ten days prior
to the competition and didn’t know if he would be able to participate. “The doctors
said that the competition would be difficult, but if I didn’t compete, I couldn’t go to
the Olympics.” So he rested and rehabbed as much as he could and managed toovercome the discomfort to finish second in the Hungarian capital, for first overall. A
well-seasoned competitor, the 21-year-old already has 16 years of experience under
his belt, having started climbing at his father’s gym at the age of five. Dohyun says he
has no expectations heading into his first Olympic Games, he simply wants to put in a
performance he is satisfied with. And should he find himself on the podium at the endof it? “I will try to smile,” he promises.

Sam started climbing at the age of six at the Massy club with his parents. In 2015, atthe age of 15, his competitive journey began, and he joined the French Youth team
before becoming a regular member of the national team for the next nine years.
He arrives in Paris for his home Games in excellent form after winning the Olympic
Qualifier Series in Budapest and most recently finishing second at the World Cup in
Chamonix in July. Qualifying for the Olympics was an incredibly difficult process for
the French athlete, who had to compete against close friends for one of the two quota
spots, making it one of the most challenging experiences of his life. Sam is looking
forward to competing in Paris in front of a home crowd and supporting his sister andfellow Olympic climber, Zélia.
Fun fact: Sam likes to play the classical guitar but listens to electronic music when it
comes to climbing and training.

Fun Fact: Dohyun’s lucky charm for competing is to wear comfortable underwear.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Adam ONDRA (CZE)

Alberto GINÉS LÓPEZ (ESP)

Age: 31
DOB: 05/02/1993
Birthplace: Brno, Czechia
Hometown: Brno, Czechia

Age: 21
DOB: 23/10/2002
Birthplace: Cáceres, Spain
Hometown: Barcelona, Spain

Instagram: adam.ondra / Athlete page: Adam Ondra

Instagram: Albertogines_ / Athlete page: Alberto Ginés Lòpez

Adam Ondra is widely regarded as one of the best climbers in the world. His outdoor
climbing is second to none, and his sport climbing isn’t bad either! Outdoors, Adam
lists his greatest achievement as climbing Silence – the world’s first 9c. Indoors,
Adam is chasing an Olympic medal to go with his impressive collection of WorldChampionship and World Cup medals. Adam has won both Boulder titles andLead titles, which in the current Olympic format is a great advantage. Competition
climbing since the age of six, Adam doesn’t even contemplate doing anything else,
although since Tokyo 2020 he has become a dad, which has brought at least a few
new changes to his life. Baby Hugo was born in May 2022 and is often seen in thecrowd watching his father compete on the World Cup circuit. Adam holds a degree
in business management and cites Vaclav Havel – the Czech statesman, playwright,
poet and dissident – as his non-sporting hero for his moral qualities.

Alberto Ginés López describes himself as “just a normal guy who climbs.” If it wasn’t for
his Olympic gold medal and nine European Youth World Cup titles, he might indeed
be normal. A fan of reading, cooking, and cinema, Alberto listens to Spanish rap andnames his grandmother as his biggest hero. All fairly typical. But as one of only 17
climbers in the world to appear at two Olympic Games, and one of only two climbers
to be defending their Olympic titles at Paris 2024, Alberto is about as unique as theycome. He first got into climbing at age three, when his father took him to a climbing
wall with his sister. By 2013 he had entered his first junior event and by 2016 he wascompeting at his first IFSC European Youth Cup. Alberto secured his second Olympic
appearance via the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai and Budapest, where hefinished fourth overall. This was a welcome relief for the young Spaniard, who says he
was unable to perform at his best for two years after Tokyo 2020 due to the pressure
and an inability to focus. Alberto says he is looking forward to reliving the experienceof the Olympic Village and “seeing so many athletes fighting for their dreams in one
city.”

Fun fact: Adam always puts his right climbing shoe on first.

Fun fact: Alberto’s lucky charm is a necklace a friend gave him ahead of Tokyo 2020.
Let’s see if it works again in Paris!

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Hannes VAN DUYSEN (BEL)

Paul JENFT (FRA)

Age: 19
DOB: 04/09/2004
Birthplace: Ghent, Belgium
Hometown: Brussels, Belgium

Age: 21
DOB: 16/06/2003
Birthplace: Grenoble, France
Hometown: Grenoble, France

Instagram: hannipan_ / Athlete page: Hannes van Duysen

Instagram: Pauljenft / Athlete page: Paul Jenft

With a fifth-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier Series, Belgium’s Hannes Van Duysen
not only secured his spot at Paris 2024, he also gave himself a serious boost of
confidence heading into his first Olympic Games. The 19-year-old has had plenty ofsuccess separately in Lead competitions and in Boulder competitions, but had yet
to put together a solid outing in the combined Boulder & Lead format until the OQS:
19th at the IFSC World Cup Morioka 2022, 32nd at the IFSC World Championships Bern
2023, and 11th at the IFSC European Qualifiers Laval 2023. He will be further buoyedby all of his performances so far this year, having not finished lower than sixth at any
competition in 2024. Hannes began climbing at the age of seven, when his parents
took him to the climbing gym as a birthday present. He entered his first competition
two years later, with his first taste of an IFSC event coming at the European YouthChampionships in 2018. Hannes is looking forward to meeting all the other athletes in
Paris and taking part in the afterparty. If his upward trajectory this year continues in
the right direction, he may have plenty to celebrate, too.

Paul started climbing at the age of three with his father, and by seven he wascompeting in club competitions. Seven years later he entered his first IFSC competition,
the European Youth Cup in Graz, Austria, where he finished 19th in the Boulder
competition. Later that year he secured his first podium place at the European YouthCup in Sofia, Bulgaria and then went on to win the European Youth Championships in
Slany, Czechia. As a senior athlete, his third-place finish at the World Cup in Hachioji,
Japan in 2023 is his best result so far. He qualified for his home Olympics with twosolid performances at the Olympic Qualifier Series (fourth in Shanghai and ninth in
Budapest). He takes inspiration from Serge Coupé, an alpinist from his hometown,
and is looking forward climbing in front of the French fans at Paris 2024, which heanticipates will be the biggest event of his life. Paul is currently studying at engineeringschool Grenoble INP and outside of climbing is a fan of cycling, eating M&M’s, playing
the piano, and solving Rubik’s Cubes.

Fun fact: Hannes is a huge darts fan whose dream is to one day watch the WorldChampionships at the legendary ‘Ally Pally’ (Alexandra Palace) in London, England.

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Fun fact: Paul always puts his right shoe on first. He also has pet stick insects.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Yannick FLOHÉ (GER)

Hamish MCARTHUR (GBR)

Age: 24
DOB: 14/08/1999
Birthplace: Essen, Germany
Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Age: 22
DOB: 06/03/2002
Birthplace: York, Great Britain
Hometown: Leeds, Great Britain

Instagram: yannick_flohe / Athlete page: Yannick Flohé

Instagram: hamish_mcarthur / Athlete page: Hamish Mcarthur

Yannick Flohé started climbing at the age of three and began competition climbing
at the age of 12. Since then, his career highlight was the IFSC Boulder World Cup gold
medal he won in Brixen, Italy in 2022. Within the world of climbing Yannick names
Japanese climber Tomoa Narasaki as someone he looks up to, whereas in the nonsporting world it’s theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Yannick likes running and you
will find a lot of hip-hop on his music playlist.

From a young age, climbing was more than a pastime for Hamish, it was a calling.
At just three years old, he declared to his mother that “everything in my life is boring
except climbing,” a sentiment that has only grown stronger over time. He entered thecompetitive scene at age 10, and joined the IFSC competition circuit by 14, beginningwith the European Youth Cup in Austria back in 2016. The modest athlete prefers not
to single out any one highlight as the pinnacle of his climbing journey so far, but
we are happy to highlight the two gold medals and one silver medal he won at the2021 World Youth Championships as an impressive accomplishment. Speaking about
challenges in climbing, Hamish openly mentions having to overcome existential
dread. He finds solace in hobbies like cooking, painting, and enjoying a good beer.
Hamish is excited to see what innovative routes the setters will create at Paris 2024,
and he eagerly awaits the new challenges and experiences the Games will bring. In
his spare time, Hamish reminisces about playing football and enjoys a diverse music
playlist, with Bob Dylan holding a perennial place, although he maintains a strict “noDylan after midnight” rule.

Fun fact: Yannick always puts his left climbing shoe on first.

Fun fact: Hamish dreams of becoming a cowboy someday.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Sascha LEHMANN (SUI)

Alexander MEGOS (GER)

Age: 26
DOB: 03/02/1998
Birthplace: Burgdorf, Switzerland
Hometown: Bern, Switzerland

Age: 30
DOB: 12/08/1993
Birthplace: Erlangen, Germany
Hometown: Erlangen, Germany

Instagram: saschalehmann / Athlete page: Sascha Lehmann

Instagram: alexandermegos / Athlete page: Alexander Megos

Climbing since the age of three, the now 26-year-old Sascha Lehmann has been
competing for over a decade. Since joining the international stage at the Youth WorldChampionships in 2012, Sascha has gone on to win two Lead World Cups and gold at
the World Games in Birmingham, USA in 2022. Sascha remembers climbing indoors
during the winter and outdoors during the summer when he was growing up. Like
most athletes, he has had his fair share of minor niggles, but in 2018 Sascha ruptured
his ACL and medial meniscus, making his 2019 World Cup win even more impressive.
Away from the sport, Sascha loves physics, the universe and the environment, andalthough he is currently taking a break from studying physics in Bern, he can see
himself pursuing that career much further in the future. At Paris 2024 Sascha isexcited to feel the atmosphere of the Olympic Games and is curious to find out whatlife inside the Olympic Village is really like.

This will be the second trip to the Olympic Games for Germany’s Alexander Megos. He
finished ninth at Tokyo 2020, but with the Speed competition separate from Boulder& Lead at Paris 2024, Megos has his sights set much higher up the final rankings
at Le Bourget Climbing Venue. While his last IFSC World Cup win came in July 2018,
Alexander has a string of silver and bronze-medal finishes to his name since then,including third place in Lead at last year’s World Championships in Bern. He qualified
for Paris by finishing 11th at the Olympic Qualifier Series earlier this year. Now 30,
Megos began climbing at the turn of the century and has been competing since2003, with his first IFSC event being a Lead World Cup in Chamonix in 2009. Qualifying
twice for the Olympic Games, winning a World Cup, and climbing 9b+ are the threestandout achievements of Alexander’s sporting career so far. His hero is legendary
American climber Chris Sharma and his interests are photography and sports ingeneral, including running and yoga.

Fun fact: Sascha likes to make the most of the beautiful Swiss views by cycling withhis girlfriend ... before getting gelato!

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Fun fact: Alexander’s playlist varies from Taylor Swift to Eminem.

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Athletes Bios [B&L]
Luka POTOČAR (SLO)PAN Yufei (CHN)

Age: 22
DOB: 21/11/2001
Birthplace: Jesenice, Slovenia
Hometown: Jesenice, Slovenia

Age: 24
DOB: 23/06/2000
Birthplace: Guangzhou, China
Hometown: Guangzhou, China

Instagram: lukapotocar / Athlete page: Luka Potocar

Instagram: yfei_pan / Athlete page: Pan Yufei

Luka Potočar hopes his Olympic debut will go as well his IFSC debut in 2016. At his
first appearance at a European Youth Cup in Imst, Austria, Luka struck gold in Lead,paving the way for a career that would eventually bring him to Paris 2024 thanks toa 12th-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier Series earlier this year. Winning a World
Cup on home soil in 2022 (Koper, Slovenia) and claiming the overall lead the same
year are two of Luka’s fondest memories of the sport so far. Luka first got into thesport at age five, eventually focusing on climbing full-time after putting his othersport, volleyball, on the backburner. Inspired by compatriot Janja Garnbret for her“results and mentality” and ex-MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi for his “personality andcharacter,” Luka says he has drawn one critical lesson from both: “that every sport
requires certain changes over time and if you don’t adapt then it’s hard to win.” Luka
says he is privileged to be at the Olympic Games competing at the highest stage. A
huge sports fans, he says volleyball, athletics and basketball are his favourite Olympic
sports besides Sport Climbing. Luka is interested in programming and technology
and plays video games for around four to eight hours a day.

Yufei started climbing aged eight when a friend introduced him to the sport. At theage of 14, he began competing in international events, his first one being the IFSCWorld Youth Championships in New Caledonia in 2014, where he took part in the
Speed and Lead competitions. Fast forward ten years and he is heading to Paris forhis second Olympic appearance and will take part in the Boulder & Lead event hoping
to improve on his 14th-place finish at Tokyo 2020. Looking back at Tokyo, he recalls
an intense and challenging experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting
both the event and the preparation period. Looking ahead to Paris 2024, he is most
excited about his performance and hopes to able to watch some basketball games.
Before he became a professional athlete, Yufei was active in various Olympic sports,
including basketball, handball, swimming, taekwondo, and track and field.

Fun fact: Yufei has a keen interest in fashion and food.

Fun Fact: Luka is a diehard Liverpool FC supporter and is not ashamed to say he cries
when they win a trophy.

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communications@ifsc-climbing.org
www.ifsc-climbing.com