As the only climber from South Africa at the first World Climbing Para Series event of the year, Emily Gray is also one of the few athletes to have experienced the Paralympics

With the debut of Climbing at the Paralympics set for LA28, more and more athletes are entering the competition arena, and those athletes bring something others don’t have yet, and that is experience of what it is like to compete at the Games already.

In Salt Lake City, among the 188 climbers registered, Emily Gray is the sole competitor from her nation, and the African continent, but is a seasoned performer on the elite sport stage.

Talking about her sporting life before Climbing Gray said: “I swam for over 16 years, representing South Africa at three Paralympic Games (2008, 2012, 2016). I retired from professional swimming in 2017 and then moved to the United States.

“I still love being in the water and now swim recreationally with friends, often in the ocean at La Jolla Cove in San Diego.”

There are groups and intitatives around the world that promote Climbing, and Para Climbing, and one such programme was the catalyst for Gray: “I started climbing with the Adaptive Climbing Group in New York City. I had always been interested in climbing, but swimming was a full-time commitment, so I never had the opportunity to explore it.

“After retiring, I finally had the time to travel and try new sports. I was also looking for community. Moving to a new country without knowing anyone can be challenging, and climbing gave me that sense of connection.”

It’s not uncommon for sports people to change sports during their career, and it’s also common to have the sense of ‘what next’ after you have finished: “Retiring from sport can also be difficult. There isn’t always a clear path for athletes afterward, and I needed something to train for and new goals to pursue. Climbing naturally filled that gap.”

With a new sports career in full flow, and new goals to aim for, Gray has new challenges and plans, which she has also had to deal with before: "I’ve been climbing since around 2018, but I haven’t competed consistently. At the moment, I’m the only South African Para Climber, and I have to self-fund my competitions. That can be challenging, especially with most events taking place in Europe.

“That said, I’m excited about building more consistency and am looking forward to competing in the World Climbing Para Series in Korea and Japan later this year.”

Coming from a different and more established sport in swimming, Gray is in a good position to compare the two: “The level of competition is getting higher every year, especially as we move toward LA 2028. The field is growing quickly, so it’s only becoming more competitive.”

Signing off with her goals Gray said: “Personally, I try not to focus too much on medals or what color they might be. In climbing, there are so many variables outside your control, and focusing on outcomes can add unnecessary pressure.

“Instead, I focus on theprocess which is climbing well, executing my plan, and giving everything I have. There’s nothing more frustrating than falling early due to a slip or misread. If I can walk away knowing I gave 100%, then whatever result comes from that is out of my hands.”

Gray is the only one from her nation, but climbers from around the world are in Salt Lake City for the first event of the four event season for the Para climbers.

The home nation have a very large and strong team, but there’s also great competition from Europe with the French always gracing the podium. In Asia there’s Japan who once again have brought a big team and will target a few medals. There’s also Australia and Brazil in attendance so a good mix of countries and continents represented.

The action starts with qualification for all the sport classes with finals streamed LIVE on the World Climbing YouTube channel on Saturday 16 May.

News and updates will be available on the World Climbing website and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.