Climber Megan won’t stop until she reaches the top

Olney’s Megan Wyatt has been spending lockdown balancing climbing, conditioning and working in her local garden centre, having been ranked number one in the country for her age group last year.

The 16-year-old finished 24th at the 2019 European Cup in Soure, Portugal, and is now buoyed by the addition of climbing to the Olympic Games that will soon see Shauna Coxsey flying the British flag in Tokyo.

And while the current situation may have derailed Wyatt’s ascent to the summit, she reckons the work of her dad, Martin, in building a wall in her garden, has kept her in tip-top condition for when competition resumes.

“Climbing is so inclusive - it is competitive but everyone who climbs is so friendly, because it’s really more of a competition between you and the wall,” she said.

“Climbing is a challenge with yourself and there are so many different types of movements, so I’d definitely recommend it to any young person, and it’s just really fun to try and get up a wall!

“At the start of lockdown I didn’t really have much equipment to train, so it was hard as all my friends had their own climbing walls.

“But then my dad built this wall in the garden six weeks into lockdown, which has made a huge difference as it means I can get the movements in every day.

“I try to go to the gym every day normally, so there’s a lot of gym and conditioning work around climbing as well.

“It's an inclusive sport with a real community feel - I’ve got friends all over the country, and I’ve got to travel to a lot of new places, something I really enjoy, since I started.”

Wyatt has embarked on a globetrotting tour since she first ascended a wall seven years ago, travelling to France, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands as she emerged as a prodigy in her favoured bouldering discipline.

And bouldering is also the category in which Olympic hopeful Coxsey excels, with Wyatt now hoping to follow in her footsteps as she bids to make history by becoming Team GB’s first ever climber at an Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced shortly after the Rio Games in 2016 that all three climbing disciplines - bouldering, lead and speed - would be added to the Olympic roster, bolstering hopes of young climbers across the nation about achieving sporting nirvana.

And while the Games in Japan may come slightly too soon for Wyatt, she is targeting Paris 2024 as where she wants scale the heights.

“I remember finding out about climbing being declared as an Olympic sport and finding it so exciting, as I never thought it would be,” she added.

“It revolutionised my ambitions, and changed my dream to now becoming ‘I want to be at the Olympics’.

“I aspire to follow in the footsteps of Shauna and she gives me inspiration - I’ve been lucky enough to meet her, and how she pushes the sport in the UK is an inspiration.

“Tokyo is probably a bit too soon, so I’m really putting all my thoughts and efforts towards Paris, while I also want to podium in World Championships in the future as well.”

Please visit www.sportsaid.org.uk for more exclusive content from currently supported SportsAid athletes, their parents and guardians, and the charity’s extensive alumni!