Tokyo 2020: Young Welsh climbers dream of Olympic gold

Young climber Gwen Morgan is calling for more indoor competitions in Wales

Scrambling up trees as a child is many people's only experience of climbing - but the sport could now see Welsh Olympic hopefuls reach new heights.

Tokyo 2020 has provided a new platform for climbers like 16-year-old Gwen Morgan to display their talents.

Since being part of Team GB at the Youth World Championships she has been aiming high.

But she said there needs to be more competitive indoor climbing if Wales is to pick up future Olympic medals.

We meet at a new climbing gym in Cardiff. On the outside it looks like a warehouse on an industrial estate. On the inside it's something I can only describe as a climber's heaven.

Every wall is covered with climbing grips - you'd find it difficult to find an excuse not to climb.

It's a place Gwen is truly at home.

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Gwen Morgan was selected for the GB climbing team at the Youth World Championships at the age of 14.

But how does one get into climbing?

"I've been doing it since I was six years old," she said. "I used to do some gymnastics, but I was really into climbing things, climbing frames, so my parents took me to a climbing wall and it went from there."

Her parents had no previous experience of climbing, no family member to guide her on her journey. But that hasn't held her back, having been selected for the GB climbing team at the Youth World Championships at the age of 14.

"I compete internationally, all over the world, I've competed in the World Championships in 2019 before Covid happened, and I'm hoping to get back to it. I came sixth in lead and ninth in the bouldering," she said.

Lead? Bouldering? These are two of the three disciplines within the sport of climbing - the third being speed.

"In lead climbing it would be based on how high on the climb you'd get, there's a score for each hold," she said.

"In boulder it's how many tops you'd get for each route, trying to complete climb as many of these routes in the fewest number of attempts.

"With speed, it's how fast you get up the wall."

'Something young people dream of'

Team GB's Shauna Coxsey is one of the first climbers to compete at an Olympic Games

So now that we know what we're doing - or at least how climbing is scored - how does Gwen feel about the new stage given to the sport, featuring in the Olympic Games for the first time?

"It's really exciting to see climbing taking off a bit more and it's nice to see the representation at the Olympics," she said. "From such a young age I've dreamed of going and competing in big competitions so it's nice to have that opportunity.

"I'd definitely like to think that I could do that. It's definitely one of my options. It would be nice to compete in something that is shared worldwide like the Olympics, it's something young people dream of."

A great platform and a step in the right direction for the sport, but closer to home Gwen would like to see more climbing facilities and competitions in Wales.

She said: "There's a lot of outdoor climbing in Wales so I think there could be more [indoor] competitions in Wales. I competed here a lot when I was young, but now tend to travel to England to compete, so hopefully we'll get some more competitions.

"There are some facilities here too and it's growing but hopefully there will be some more facilities coming in the future.

"Over the past couple of years I have seen more interest in climbing all around, so hopefully that will continue to grow especially since the games."