Wall or nothing: 17-year-old Ava is UK's fastest woman climber

At just 17 years old, Ava Hamilton is the fastest woman speed climber in the UK.

The sport involves competitors climbing up a 15m wall in races that take mere seconds to complete - with a world record time of just 4.798 seconds.

It joined the Olympic Games for the first time at Tokyo 2020, but Scotland still only has one full-sized speed climbing wall.

After beating the UK women's record this year at the European Championships with a time of 8.64 seconds, Ava, from Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire, wants the sport to become more accessible so more people can try it out.

The last time a British woman set a speed climbing record was Shauna Coxsey in 2019, with a time of 9.1 seconds.

"I was really happy but also so relieved," Ava told BBC Scotland News.

"I'd done it quite a few times in practice but not loads, and this was a personal best for me.

"You just need to make that time in competition because that means it's official."

Ava Hamilton started speed climbing competitively two years ago

She hopes to beat her own record with a time of less than 7.5 seconds within the next year.

"I think that's a very realistic goal in the next few months," she said. "And eventually my goal is to make less than seven seconds.

"That would be world class level. Although it's not very long - it's literally just one second off what I do now - it means so much in speed climbing."

Ava started competing in speed climbing at 15 and said she was grateful that her school accommodated her taking time off to travel to international bouts.

Dan Wyatt, rector at Glasgow's Kelvinside Academy, praised her commitment to the sport.

He said: "She's an inspiration to any young person, and a shining example of the dedication and application required to make it in any sport.

"The unseen hours in the car, on the wall, completing homework whenever possible, and missing parties and gatherings have all been part of Ava's journey."

Now she has hopes of scoring a spot on Team GB at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"That's the massive goal," she said. "This year I'm focusing on the 2025 season and going from there so hopefully I'll be on a good trajectory by then."

Ava started out bouldering when she was seven years old before she began competing in speed climbing

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) standardised speed climbing in 2007.

"I only remember that because it's the year I was born," said Ava.

"Tokyo 2020 did wonders for the sport because people could see the speed these climbers were running up the walls and it gained a lot of traction.

"It's a shame it's not as accessible to the public as other types of climbing, but it'll get there."

There are three full-sized standardised speed climbing walls in the UK, and the only one in Scotland is in Edinburgh.

Every wall is the same, down to the millimetre and materials used, with exactly 20 handholds and 11 footholds.

Ava worked with Above Adventure in Kilmarnock to create two sections of speed wall in their rock climbing gym to these exact measurements.

"It means I can practise every bit individually," she said.

"But it's not a huge thing in the UK so it's not really funded and most people are self-funded or through private sponsors.

"It would be good to see more people competing in the UK as it's quite an underdeveloped sport here."

International competitions have meant that she has travelled to Austria and South Korea for races.

Now she has plans to go to a US training camp in Salt Lake City for three months next year with her coach Albert Ok.

She hopes the experience will help to shave valuable milliseconds off her record time.

"I really enjoy training because the improvements are really obvious when you get better," she said. "It's reflected in your time.

"You have to learn every individual move and link them together the best you can, so it's probably a lot more technical than people might expect.

"There's a lot of problem-solving since you have to work out what's best for you and if you're strong enough to do certain moves. I've got a lot more in me hopefully."