Maureen Beck is an American mountaineer, and a specialist in adaptive climbing. Born without a lower left arm, she has won six national titles, and won a gold medal at the 2014 Spanish Paraclimbing World Championships. [1]
Beck is from Ellsworth, Maine and a graduate of the University of Vermont. [2] She was inspired to take up climbing at the age of 12 after a counsellor said she did not have to do it on a camp course. Because there was no support for one-handed climbing, she devised a way of doing it herself. She accompanied Jim Ewing in a climb of the Lotus Flower Tower in the Cirque of the Unclimbables. [3]
The 2018 documentary "Stumped" centered on Beck and her climbing career. [4]
In 2019 Beck was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. [5] [6] In May of 2022, Beck placed second at the IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup. [7]
Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers.
The IFSC Climbing World Championships are the biennial world championship event for competition climbing that is organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). This event determines the male and female world champions in the three disciplines of competition climbing: competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing. Since 2012, a combined ranking is also determined, for climbers competing in all disciplines, and additional medals are awarded based on that ranking. The first event was organized in Frankfurt in 1991.
USA Climbing is the national governing body of the sport of competition climbing in the United States. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, they promote Sport Climbing which comprises three competition disciplines: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing, in elite, youth and collegiate formats.
Brooke Raboutou is a French-American professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing where she competes as part of the US National Team. She won the silver medal in the combined bouldering and lead climbing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Janja Garnbret is a Slovenian professional rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and competition climbing. She has won multiple competition lead climbing and competition bouldering events, two Olympic gold medals, and is widely regarded as the greatest competition climber of all time. In 2021, Garnbret became the first-ever female Olympic gold medalist in climbing, and successfully defended her title in 2024. With two gold medals, she is the most successful Slovenian athlete at the Summer Olympics. She is also the world's first-ever female climber to onsight an 8c (5.14b) graded sport climbing route.
Akiyo Noguchi is a Japanese professional rock climber who specializes in competition bouldering as well as outdoor bouldering and sport climbing.
Jessica Pilz is an Austrian professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She won the bronze medal in the combined bouldering and lead climbing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Matthew Phillips is a British paraclimber. He competes on the Great Britain Paraclimbing Team, where he was the youngest member, and is the current World Champion in the AU2 category. He is coached by GB Team's Head Coach Robin O'Leary.
The Great Britain paraclimbing team represents Great Britain in paraclimbing. They are administered by British Mountaineering Council, and currently sponsored by the Oakwood Climbing Centre and Quay Climbing Centre. In 2018 the team had their best season ever coming 2nd in the IFSC Climbing World Championships Paraclimbing medal table with 3 World Champions gaining Gold, a Silver and a Bronze medal.
The IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships are the biennial world championships for competition climbing for people with disabilities organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). This event determines the male and female world champions in various categories.
The 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships, the 16th edition, were held in Hachioji, Japan from 11 to 21 August 2019. The championships consisted of lead, speed, bouldering, and combined events. The paraclimbing event was held separately from 16 to 17 July in Briançon, France. The combined event also served as an Olympic qualifying event for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Aleksandra (Ola) Mirosław is a Polish soldier and competition speed climber. She is a two-time women's speed world champion as well as the current women's competition speed climbing world record holder. Mirosław won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the speed climbing event, becoming the first ever Olympic champion in this event.
Petra Klingler is a Swiss rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. Known as a versatile climber, she competes in a wide range of competitive events, including competition bouldering, competition speed climbing, competition lead climbing, and also competition ice climbing.
Ai Mori is a Japanese professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing and the disciplines of competition lead climbing and competition bouldering. At the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships, she became the youngest Japanese athlete to finish in a podium place in the competition, third in lead. She has won Japan Cup titles in both bouldering and lead disciplines and has multiple IFSC Climbing World Cup podium finishes, including three gold medals in World Cup events in the 2022 season. At the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships, Mori won the gold medal in lead, becoming the first Japanese athlete to win a World Championships lead title.
Seo Chae-hyun, also known as Chaehyun Seo, is a South Korean professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She won the overall 2019 World Cup title in competition lead climbing in her senior debut season. In 2021 she won the IFSC World Championship in lead climbing. Seo is a two-time Olympian, having represented South Korea at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
The 2020 IFSC Climbing European Championships, the 13th edition, were held in Moscow, Russia from 20 to 28 November 2020. The championships consisted of lead, speed, bouldering, and combined events. The winners of the last event will automatically qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where climbing will make its debut.
The 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships was the 17th edition of the competition climbing event. It was held in Moscow, Russia from 16 to 21 September 2021, alongside the 2021 IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships.
Natalia Grossman is an American professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She represents the United States at IFSC Climbing World Cup in competition bouldering and competition lead climbing. She won gold and silver at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships, and has 19 podium finishes at World Cup events, including nine golds. In October 2023, Grossman qualified for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris by winning the boulder & lead combined competition at the 2023 Pan American Games.
Linda Le Bon is a para-athlete. She competes for her native country Belgium in para-alpine skiing and for Austria in paraclimbing. She competes in the B2 category, which is for visually impaired athletes. She has a vision impairment as a result of macular degeneration.
Anoushé Husain is a British paraclimber and civil servant.