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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
OutdoorExtreme Sports

Tokyo 2020: ‘It’s not a real sport’ – Vindication for Canadian women’s climber Alannah Yip after qualifying for Olympics

  • Canada’s best overall women’s climber qualifies for Summer Olympics after topping qualifiers in February
  • The 26-year-old hopes to inspire more women competitors after being told early on that climbing was not a ‘real sport’

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Alannah Yip takes a rest before her climb at the Pan-American Continental Championships in Los Angeles last month. Photo: International Federation of Sports Climbing
Andrew McNicol

Canada’s top professional women’s climber, Alannah Yip, says her sport’s landmark debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is proof of its legitimacy.

The 26-year-old Yip – a six-time national champion and three-time open bouldering champion – sealed Olympic qualification after leading the women’s category at the International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC) Pan-American Continental Championships in Los Angeles last month.

“I am so excited and relieved to have qualified,” said Yip, born in Vancouver to a Chinese father and Scottish mother. “It has been a very long journey. When it was officially announced in 2016 that climbing would be at Tokyo 2020, I decided the next year that I would try to qualify.

“2019 was definitely the longest and hardest year I’ve ever had. I trained hard in preparation but still wasn’t ready for the endless competition season. I competed constantly from Canadian Nationals last March to the PanAms in February. Getting close to my goal in the two previous qualifiers this year was heartbreaking and made my victory in LA even sweeter.”

Winner Alannah Yip is flanked by Alejandra Contreras (left) of Chile and Lauren Bair of the US on the podium at the IFSC Pan-American Continental Championships. Photo: IFSC
Winner Alannah Yip is flanked by Alejandra Contreras (left) of Chile and Lauren Bair of the US on the podium at the IFSC Pan-American Continental Championships. Photo: IFSC
Sport climbing’s forthcoming Olympics inauguration has not come without controversy. While it follows competition conventions of separating the sport into bouldering, speed and lead climbing, each athlete is obliged to take part in all three disciplines. This could be a problem for bouldering or lead climb specialists who have to learn speed climbing from scratch to compete, while others note the latter’s lack of problem-solving element.
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