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Born | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | 3 September 1987||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Professional Athlete | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 169 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Updated on 1 August 2022. |
Sean McColl (born 3 September 1987) is a professional rock climber from North Vancouver, Canada. In competition climbing, he competes in the competition lead climbing, competition speed climbing, and competition bouldering disciplines, and has won major competitions in all three. He is also notable for his outdoor sport climbing and bouldering ascents.
Sean McColl was born on 3 September 1987 [1] in Vancouver, Canada and lived in Chambéry, France for several years in his twenties. [2] As of the past couple of years, he travels the world training and competing. He is sponsored by VISA, Adidas, SCARPA, Flashed Climbing, Perfect Descent, Joe Rockheads, and Vertical'Art. [3]
Sean McColl found early success while training with the Canada Youth National Climbing Team. [4] : p. 34–38 He won the gold medal in lead climbing in his age group at the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Youth World Championships. In 2006, he won in both the lead and speed climbing categories, and was beginning to break into the top 20 finishes at adult competitions. [5] In February 2011, McColl won first place at the 12th Annual ABS Nationals bouldering competition in Boulder, Colorado. [6]
2012 was McColl's most successful competition season to date, with 10 podium finishes at major climbing competitions. [2] In September, McColl competed in the IFSC Climbing World Championships, where he placed second in lead climbing and fourth in bouldering. Although he did not win either event, he earned enough points to secure first place in the overall competition. [7] Two months later, he went to the PanAmerican Championships in Venezuela. He took first place in lead climbing and second place in bouldering, making him the first Canadian athlete to reach the podium at the competition. [8]
In May 2013, McColl earned his first Bouldering World Cup win at an event in Log Dragomer. He was the only male competitor to solve three of the four finals problems, taking first place over Jan Hojer and Dmitri Sarafutdinov. [9] One week later, McColl took fourth place at the World Cup in Innsbruck. [10] He placed fourth once again in June at the World Cup event in Vail. [11]
McColl is known as a very strong athlete both in bouldering and lead. Although he was never able to win a World Championship in these individual disciplines, in 2012 he won the overall IFSC Climbing World Championships, by ranking second in lead and fourth in bouldering. From 2011 to 2014, he consistently obtained very high IFSC Climbing World Cup rankings in both disciplines. In 2014 and 2016, he won the Combined World Cup, while in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015 he ranked second in the Combined World Cup.
McColl won the bronze medal at The World Games 2017 in Wrocław, Poland.
McColl qualified for the Olympics at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships. [12] [13] He went on to represent Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he placed 17th in the combined competition. [14]
In 2014, McColl competed for Team Europe in American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World, and led his team to victory. On Stage 2, McColl blew through the stage, at one point landing hard on his stomach. During Stage 3, McColl fell on the final obstacle, just feet from the end, allowing the American team the opportunity to tie up the competition. On Stage 4, although the Americans started strong, McColl flew up the rope, beating their time by three-tenths of a second.
In the 2018 American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World competition, McColl led Team Europe to the top of the podium, beating out American "Papal Ninja" Sean Bryan by approximately eight-tenths of a second.[ citation needed ]
Discipline | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | 56 | - | - | 20 | - | 9 | 12 | 43 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 21 |
Bouldering | - | - | - | 27 | - | 8 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 40 |
Speed | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 24 | 32 | 29 | 17 | 36 | 84 |
Combined | - | - | - | 11 | - | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 41 |
Youth [16]
Discipline | 2001 Youth B | 2002 Youth B | 2003 Youth A | 2004 Youth A | 2005 Juniors | 2006 Juniors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
Speed | 1 | - | - | - | 8 | 1 |
Adult [16]
Discipline | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | 41 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
Bouldering | 25 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 14 |
Speed | - | 43 | 53 | 43 | 26 | 38 |
Combined | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Season | Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Youth B | 1 | 1 | ||
2006 | Juniors | 1 | 1 | ||
Total | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 1 | 1 | ||
2009 | 1 | 1 | ||
2010 | 0 | |||
2011 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
2012 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
2013 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
2014 | 3 | 3 | ||
2015 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
2016 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
2017 | 1 | 1 | ||
Total | 3 | 9 | 8 | 20 |
Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 1 | 1 | ||
2009 | 1 | 1 | ||
2010 | 1 | 1 | ||
2011 | 1 | 1 | ||
2012 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
2013 | 1 | 1 | ||
2014 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
2015 | 1 | 1 | ||
2016 | 1 | 1 | ||
2018 | 1 | 1 | ||
Total | 2 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
In September 2009, McColl claimed the second ascent of Dreamcatcher, a sport route in Squamish, British Columbia. Rated 5.14d on the Yosemite Decimal System, Dreamcatcher is considered one of the hardest climbing routes in Canada. It was first established and climbed by Chris Sharma in 2005, and was unrepeated for four years despite efforts by Ethan Pringle, Sonnie Trotter and Paul Robinson. [17]
In March 2012, McColl competed in the Hueco Rock Rodeo, an annual outdoor bouldering competition in Hueco Tanks, Texas. During the competition, he completed Nagual (rated V13 on the V-scale) in one attempt, an accomplishment known as a "flash". McColl is one of few climbers to have flashed a bouldering problem with such a high degree of difficulty. [18]
Ramón Julián Puigblanque is a professional Spanish rock climber specializing in competition lead climbing and sport climbing. He won two World Championships, in 2007 and 2011, three European Championships, in 2004 2010 and 2015, and one Lead Climbing World Cup in 2010. From 2001 to 2016, he participated in 16 seasons of the World Cup, winning 21 World Cup stages. He has also redpointed several sport routes above 9a (5.14d), and made the first free ascent of La Rambla.
Paul David Robinson is an American professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering. He has established and repeated several bouldering problems at the V15 difficulty rating, in such areas as Hueco Tanks, the Buttermilks, and Magic Wood. In 2007, Robinson became the second climber in history to successfully climb a V13 boulder problem in one attempt.
Alex Puccio is a professional climber specializing in bouldering. She competes in climbing competitions and split her time between climbing outdoor and indoor. She finished third overall in the 2011 and 2013 World Cup bouldering competition, second overall in the 2014 Climbing World Championship bouldering competition, and has won the American Bouldering Series eleven times.
Shauna Coxsey is an English professional rock climber. She is the most successful competition climber in the UK, having won the IFSC Bouldering World Cup Season in both 2016 and 2017. She retired from competition climbing after competing in the 2020 Olympics.
Anna Stöhr is a professional climber. She is a champion in bouldering climbing competitions. She won four Bouldering World Cups, in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and two World Championships, in 2007 and 2011. Notably, she dominated the 2013 Bouldering World Cup series, by winning seven events out of eight, losing one just by one attempt to Juliane Wurm.
Ashima Shiraishi is an American rock climber. Shiraishi started climbing at the age of six at Rat Rock in Central Park, joining her father. Only a few years later, she quickly established herself as one of the top boulderers and sport climbers in the world. Her numerous accolades include first-place finishes in international competitions, and multiple first female and youngest ascents. Shiraishi is featured in several short documentary-style films, and is the subject of the documentary short "Return to the Red" (2012).
Dmitri Sarafutdinov, also known as Dmitrii Sharafutdinov, is a professional Russian rock climber and competition climber who specializes in competition bouldering. He has won three World Championships, in 2007, 2011 and 2012 and one Bouldering World Cup in 2013.
Angela "Angy" Eiter is an Austrian professional rock climber who specialises in competition climbing and sport climbing. In competition lead climbing, she won three IFSC World Cups in a row (2004–2006), and four IFSC World Championships. In 2011, she achieved her 25th win in World Cup and her 42nd podium. She is also one of the strongest sport climbers in the world, and in 2017, became the first-ever female in history to climb a 9b (5.15b) route, La Planta de Shiva. In 2020, she became the first-ever female in history to complete the first free ascent (FFA) of a 9b (5.15b) route, Madame Ching.
Mina Markovič is a professional rock climber who specialized in competition climbing, from which she is now retired. She competed in the World Cup and World Championships in competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing, obtaining her best results in lead. She also climbs on outdoor sport climbing routes where she has redpointed to 9a (5.14d).
Chon Jong-won is a South Korean competition climber, who won the IFSC Climbing World Cup in 2015 and 2017 in the competition bouldering discipline and competed in the 2020 Olympics.
Alexander Megos is a German rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering and competition climbing. In 2013, he became the first-ever climber to onsight a 9a (5.14d) graded route. He has made the first free ascent (FFA) of some of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world, including two 9b+ (5.15c) routes, three 9b (5.15b) routes, and several boulders with a boulder 8C (V15) rating.
Janja Garnbret is a Slovenian professional rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and competition climbing, and who has won multiple competition lead climbing and competition bouldering events. In 2021, she became the first-ever female Olympic gold medalist in climbing and is widely regarded as one of the greatest competition climbers of all time. She is also the world's first-ever female climber to onsight an 8c (5.14b) graded sport climbing route. As of 2023, Garnbret had won the most IFSC gold medals of any competition climber in history.
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Jakob Schubert is an Austrian professional rock climber, specializing in competition climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. He was four times World Champion and three times World Cup winner in lead climbing. In August 2021, he won bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. As of the end of 2022, Schubert had won the most men's IFSC gold medals of any male competition climber in history. In addition to competition climbing, Schubert is one of only a handful of climbers in the world to have redpointed 9c (5.15d) routes.
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Jan Hojer is a German professional rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. He is known for winning one World Cup and two European Championships in competition bouldering. In May 2010, he climbed Action Directe, one of the most difficult sport climbing routes in the world. From 2013 to 2015, he sent several 8C (V15) boulder problems.
Jessica Pilz is an Austrian professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She won the 2018 IFSC Climbing World Championships for competition lead climbing.
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