U.S. sport climber Brooke Raboutou is reaching new heights after she qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“It’s been pretty crazy to see the sport evolve,” Raboutou, the first woman to represent the U.S. in sport climbing when she competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games, said in an interview Wednesday. “I was one of the first Olympians back in 2020. There was only 20 of us.
“Since then, we’ve seen a lot of growth in the sport, more participation, more gyms pop up, more funding for the athletes, and it’s really cool to see that growth and see our sport get to be loved by so many,” she added.
Sport climbing made its first Olympic appearance at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Although it was not highly publicized, it became an instant hit with the public, leading to its official debut at the Tokyo Games.
Sport climbing takes place in three formats at the Olympics: bouldering, speed and lead. In bouldering, athletes climb high walls without ropes in a limited period of time and in the fewest attempts.
Speed is a race against the clock in which top athletes can scale 50-foot walls in just seconds. In the lead format, athletes climb as high as they can on complicated routes they have no previous knowledge of, requiring physical and mental discipline.
During the Paris Games, two competitions will crown their champions. One will be a combined competition of lead and bouldering, while the second will feature just the speed event.
Now, with the Olympics just one month away, Raboutou, who competes in the combined boulder and lead categories, is focused on upholding her family’s legacy. Both her parents are former world champion rock climbers.
“I think it means a lot; my family is really excited for me,” she said. “And to me, it means a lot because they have been such pioneers in the sport. So to get to represent them on such a big stage that they didn’t get to be part of — and they probably would have if climbing was in the Olympics back then — is really special.”
