McColl and Yip to represent Team Canada in sport climbing Olympic debut
Sean McColl and Alannah Yip will form Canada’s first ever Olympic sport climbing team at Tokyo 2020.
McColl secured his Olympic nomination at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Hachioji, Japan with a 10th-place finish in the combined event, in which athletes compete in all three of the bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing disciplines. The 33-year-old from North Vancouver has won four world titles in the combined event (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016).
Yip, also from North Vancouver, earned her Olympic nomination at the 2020 Pan American Championships in Los Angeles last February. She placed first in bouldering, third in lead climbing, and fifth in speed climbing, culminating in her victory in the combined event. Yip, now 27, won her first national climbing championship title at the age of 12 and has won seven Open National titles since while also earning a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia. In 2017, she became the first Canadian woman to advance to the final of a World Cup climbing event.
Alannah Yip climbs her way to victory at the 2020 IFSC Pan American Championships in Los Angeles. (Photo: Daniel Gajda/IFSC)
“Joining Team Canada with Alannah is a dream come true,” said McColl. “I grew up with Alannah before she started climbing. I introduced her to the sport and now we are becoming Olympic athletes together in the inauguration of our sport.”
“When I was young, I dreamed of getting to compete in the Olympics. I was lucky enough to watch the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony in person and my favourite part was the athlete parade,” said Yip. “Watching all of the athletes proudly representing their countries and thinking about how much work and sacrifice each and every one of them must have put in to get there was so emotional for me. Now that my sport is for the first time a part of the Olympic Games, I am beyond excited to get to be a part of it.”
McColl was instrumental in pushing for sport climbing to be added to the Olympic program. Serving as the president of the IFSC athlete commission since 2012, he participated in numerous presentations to the International Olympic Committee on behalf of sport climbing. His efforts contributed to the official announcement on August 3, 2016 that sport climbing would make its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
Sport climbing was originally proposed to the IOC for Olympic inclusion in 2013 but was passed over. In a different process that saw the host nation submit sports for inclusion at only the Games it is responsible for, sport climbing received a second chance. The other sports proposed by the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and accepted by the IOC are baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, and surfing.
Sean McColl climbs up the wall during a IFSC World Cup event. (Eddie Fowke/IFSC)
You can watch McColl compete in the Olympic qualification rounds for the combined event on August 3. Yip will be competing the following day, August 4. The finals for the men and women will take place on August 5 and 6, respectively. The sport climbing events will take place at the Aomi Urban Sports Park, located in the Tokyo Bay Zone.
Team Canada Sport Climbers at Tokyo 2020:
Sean McColl (North Vancouver, BC) – Men’s Combined
Alannah Yip (North Vancouver, BC) – Women’s Combined
