Team GB’s first Olympic climber, Shauna Coxsey, says sport is breaking down image barriers for women.
Coxsey, 28, who practises on a climbing wall in her basement, told ES Magazine about a symposium she launched to boost participation.
“Because I’d been doing it from such a young age, I was oblivious to the barriers women were facing,” she said. “Worrying about things like getting bulky, getting stronger than their boyfriends or climbing on their periods.
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“But it’s clear climbing is growing among women. Sport helps break down so many barriers with body image. Women are realising that beauty and strength aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Coxsey hopes to win a medal at Tokyo 2020, where climbing is an Olympic sport for the first time.
She married fellow climber Ned Feehally a few weeks ago and they live in Sheffield, where he built a wooden climbing wall nicknamed the “Beastmaker”.
In videos posted on Instagram, Coxsey, inset, can be seen pulling herself up by the fingertips of one hand.
She got the climbing bug aged four after watching a documentary about French mountaineer Catherine Destivelle. By nine she had a first national title and she won gold at international world cup events in 2016 and 2017.
