With climbing in the Olympics, Tucson climbers draw inspiration

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN — With the chalk dust sweeping through the air in the rock climbing gym Rock Solid, the climbers on the youth team stand in support of their teammate Canan Collins as he grips the smallest of holds. Collins fell in love with climbing about two years ago and now, he trains constantly.

“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication,” he said.

He competes in several competitions throughout the year. The competitions include speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing. Bouldering involves short routes with no ropes while lead climbing involves clipping the rope as the athlete climbs.

“I like bouldering the best but I do both,” Collins said.

With climbing in the Olympics for the second time in history, the athletes draw more motivation and inspiration. For climbers in Tucson, it’s thrilling to see their sport on the world’s stage, bringing more people insight into the climbing world. Collins hopes to compete on that level some day.

“It’s really cool that it’s in the Olympics and it give me a lot of motivation to get there in the future,” Collins said.   

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