World champion rock climber Ashima Shiraishi won her first competition when she was just seven. Now, her sights are set on the 2020 Olympics
Ashima Shiraishi is a world champion rock climber. She was born in New York in 2001, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, and won her first competition at the age of seven. She went on to win the American Bouldering Series Youth National Championship for five consecutive years, excelling at climbing without ropes and harnesses. In 2015 she set records when she climbed the Open Your Mind Direct route at Santa Linya in Spain, becoming the first female and the youngest person to have achieved a climb of this difficulty. In the 2015 Golden Pitons she was named Climber of the Year. She hopes to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Her story features in a book that is designed to inspire a new generation of girls: The Female Lead.
“I started rock climbing when I was six years old in Central Park in New York City. One day I was playing at a playground in the park and I saw people climbing on this big rock. I was really interested and started to do it too. I kept on falling but every day I went back. I had no climbing shoes so I just wore sneakers.
I climb on outdoor rocks and mountains. I also do competitions on artificial rock but I prefer real rock climbing. Climbing is exhilarating; you go up so high and sometimes it’s scary, but the fear is an exciting feeling, and when you get to the top, it’s the best feeling.
I have fallen countless times, but that’s what makes it so special when you get to the top.I do two types of climbing. One is free climbing [bouldering], which means that it’s only me and the rock. There is nothing to help me – only chalk for my hands, but no harnesses or ropes. You climb a rock that’s about 15 feet, so not too high. I also do sport climbing where you climb 100 or more feet and you wear a harness and a rope and someone’s belaying you [the technique of securing the climber during a climb]. They are both climbing, but they are very different. One is like a marathon whereas the other is like a sprint.
Climbing is so natural for me, it’s almost like dancing on the rock. Since my dad was a dancer, I feel I naturally have that movement inside me. Sometimes it’s almost like flying up the wall and sometimes you actually do fly through the air to grab on to rocks. When I am climbing, I try not to be nervous. A lot of people get really stressed and when you’re like that it’s hard to…
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