Listen
As we’re now just over three months away from the 2024 Paris Olympics. The first two athletes to qualify and be announced in the official team were twenty-three-year-old Sarah Tetzlaff & nineteen-year-old Julian David, both Speed Climbers. They are also the first ever New Zealand climbers to attend an Olympics.
Climbing was introduced for the Tokyo 2020 games, where it featured as an event combining Bouldering, Speed, & Lead climbing. For Paris 2024 Speed climbing has been spun out as a solo event and given its own medal.
Speed climbing involved scaling a 15-meter wall and hitting a stopwatch at the top as quickly as possible. The world record currently stands at 4.90s, or a pace of around 11km per hour.
To talk about the sport's inclusive nature and explosion in popularity future Olympian Sarah Tetzlaff and her coach, Speed Climbing’s High-Performance Director Rob Moore join Susana Lei’ataua.
Coach Rob Moore (left) started the high-performance speed climbing programme last year, which has helped athletes like Sarah Tetzlaff (right) reach the highest level. (Supplied by Rob Moore) Photo: Supplied/ Rob Moore