August 5, 2024, 10 a.m. local time.
The date is stuck in Sean McCall’s mind, as it marked the beginning of the sport climbing competition at the Paris Olympics.
Just one problem: McCall still needs to qualify.
The 36-year-old from North Vancouver, British Columbia, nearly accomplished that at last month’s Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. But while leading the competition during the rocky round, he fell and broke a rib.
“I can’t say whether I’ll qualify or not,” McCall, who finished fourth, told CBC Sports in a recent interview. “I was happier that I was able to compete. I would have been really frustrated if they had said ‘You can’t climb your way up’ because one of the most important things to me is that there is only one way to go from my second Olympics.”
“And I live for those moments.”
McCall’s life was about adding climbing to the Olympic program – which it finally did at Tokyo 2020, where he finished 17th.
He’ll be climbing for the right to be named a two-time Olympian in the qualifiers next spring.
watched Thibault wins Pan Am Games gold:
Tamara Thibault of Shawinigan, Que., captured her first Pan Am Games gold medal on Friday, defeating Athena Bellon of Panama 5-0 in the 75-kg boxing division.
Tamara Thibault entered the Pan American Games with two distinct goals: to qualify for the Olympics and win gold.
Four years ago, she was denied the chance to compete in the tournament in Lima when she lost her semifinal match to Colombia’s Jessica Caicedo. Caicedo was later stripped of her eventual gold medal due to doping.
So Thibault, a 26-year-old from Shawinigan, Que., sought redemption. She easily reached the final in the 75kg category, enough to book her ticket to Paris.
Make that four.
“Now that I have done that, I feel very grateful and relieved because my only goal and focus now is to be ready and to be at my best during the season,” he added. [Olympic] “Games,” Thibault said.
Although technically all Thibault did was guarantee Canada a spot in the Olympic weight class, the reality is it would take an injury to keep her away from France.
The biggest question is whether her sport, which has appeared in every Olympic Games since 1920, will survive beyond Paris. It was recently “suspended” for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles due to concerns about the International Boxing Federation, the sport’s current governing body.
“I have a belief that boxing is a special sport, especially for the Olympics, so I always had faith that you would arrange for it to participate in the Olympics,” Thibault said. “It was just a matter of, ‘OK, how do we make it successful and how do we collaborate and follow the Olympic values’.”
Contrasting but comparable
McCall and Thibault provide a wonderful contrast.
However, many of their problems are similar. Neither sport is among the most popular Olympic events, perhaps especially within Canada. As such, proper financing can be a battle.
Rock climbing, unlike lead climbing and speed climbing, the other two disciplines in the sport, requires investment from a national federation, McCall said.
“It’s almost like a national federation has 100 golf courses so they can go and practice a different golf course every day so they’re ready for any shot,” he said. “Whereas our federation doesn’t have golf courses. We don’t have any. So it’s all just on the individual athletes to go and figure out where they’re going to train.”
McCall and Thibault both took part in the RBC Training Ground final in Toronto last weekend. The event sees athletes across Canada between the ages of 14 and 25 undergo a series of speed, strength, power and endurance tests in hopes of being paired with an Olympic sport.
Past graduates of the program include Kelsey Mitchell, of Sherwood Park, Alta., a native who went from being a soccer player to an Olympic gold medalist in track cycling.
“It will spread the sport and help us grow, and not only that, but the RBC Training Ground also gives the athletes an opportunity to earn funding. Funding is very important for amateur athletes in any sport. So getting support for things like travel, nutrition, equipment and training is important,” Thibault said. very important”.
Separate routes to Paris
Even the next eight months or so leading up to the Paris Olympics won’t be too different, with both Canadians focused solely on peaking at the right time.
Thibault will have two competitions before Paris as well as multiple training camps. It’s a strict schedule that will leave her away from home essentially every couple of months.
McCall has some downtime before the Olympic qualifiers start in May. He intends to build an elite climbing wall in the basement of his house so he can train every day without worrying about bad weather.
“I’m very excited. I’m sure you’ll see it on social media,” he said.
Both will continue to push their sport’s agendas.
Thibault says she is optimistic about boxing because of the presence of the World Boxing Organisation, an organization that was launched in April with the aim of working with the International Olympic Committee to ensure the sport remains part of the Games.
watched Thibault punches the Olympic ticket:
Shawinigan, Que., native Tamara Thibault defeated Mexico’s Citlali Ortiz via unanimous points decision (5-0) in the 75-kilogram semifinals at the Pan American Games.
She said she hopes to become more involved in the organization as it gains strength.
“We’re working on it really hard and it looks really cool,” she said. “Don’t count us out yet.”
In Tokyo, men’s and women’s podium climbs are determined by combined results in all three disciplines – in contrast to typical competitions, where each is contested separately.
For Paris, speed is taken out of the equation because it requires a completely different skill set than bullets and rocks.
McCall’s ultimate goal is to increase the number of Olympic medals awarded in climbing, perhaps even by 2028 — a Games he has yet to count himself out of.
“[Tokyo 2020] That was the icing on the cake of my lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian. Having the opportunity to do it again in Paris is great too. And then, yeah, going to L.A., it will just depend on how my body handles the three possible disciplines.”
