A coach and two speed-climbers from Boulders Climbing Gym will represent Team Canada at the 2023 Santiago Pan Am Games.
Saanich speed-climbers Ethan Flynn-Pitcher and Michael Finn-Henry will have a chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the event, and Boulders coach Libor Hroza of Victoria will be the speed-team coach at the games.
The climbing events will be part of the Pan American Games for the first time, held at the Parque Bicentenario Cerrillos from Oct. 21 to 24.
“It’s indescribable,” Flynn-Pitcher said. “I somehow feel so calm despite knowing that this will be the most important competition of my life.”
The Team Canada sport climbing team will feature 10 athletes competing at the event, and they qualified based on their world ranking amongst athletes from other Pan American countries.
The team will compete in the combined event, which includes both boulder and lead, and the speed event.
The top-ranked athlete in each event will qualify for the Olympics.
“Knowing that I could walk away from this competition with a ticket to the Olympics, all I can do now is do my best,” Flynn-Pitcher said. “There’s not much else to say, I’m ready.”
Boulders Climbing Gym is located at Stelly’s Secondary School in Central Saanich. Olympic hopefuls train at the facility, but it is also open to the public on evenings and weekends.
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