In a testament to how much the ground-breaking Boulders Gym meant to the then-fledgling sport of climbing during its formative years, 12 of the 40 climbers competing in the sport鈥檚 debut at the Tokyo Olympics have trained in the Central Saanich facility.
鈥淚 am almost in tears [thinking about it]. These are 12 Olympians, from many nations, who have stayed at my house and trained in our facility,鈥� said Boulders Gym Climbing 颅Society chair Kimanda 颅Jarzebiak, who is providing the colour 颅commentary for CBC鈥檚 coverage of Olympic climbing.
鈥淎nd even more of the Olympians, up to a third, have competed at Boulders in events.鈥�
The big draw among the 12 Olympians who have trained at Boulders Gym is Libor Hroza of Victoria, now the Canadian high performance program head coach.
Boulders opened as an outdoor wall in 1993 when few had heard of the sport, became indoors in 2004, and underwent major upgrades in 2011.
Sean McColl of North Vancouver, a frequent Boulders Gym user over the years, placed 17th in the men鈥檚 event in Tokyo. McColl is on the athlete鈥檚 commission and was among those who lobbied to get the burgeoning sport into the Olympics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to put into words,鈥� McColl said, after competing Tuesday in the Games.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked hard since 2012 to get it into the 2020 Games. When announced in 2016, I was among the first to say: 鈥業鈥檓 going to go for the Olympics.鈥� I qualified. But because of the pandemic, the last 18 months have been crazy. But we made it. The 颅Olympics made it. Tokyo 2020 did a phenomenal job and climbing made its debut. We鈥檙e here on the ground. I鈥檓 proud. It brings tears to my eyes. I pass Canadian athletes in the hallways and elevators and I get giddy because I know they won a medal and I鈥檓 afraid to 颅introduce myself.鈥�
But his sport has now 颅introduced itself to the world.
鈥淧eople gathered around and were glued to the screen 颅watching the climbing [in the Toronto CBC studios, where most of the Canadian TV 颅commentators are making their calls] and that to me was the best piece of feedback about our sport,鈥� said Jarzebiak.
鈥淭here were comments like 鈥楽pider-Man has nothing on this.鈥� And they were blown away by the speed event. You know the track 100 metres? We鈥檙e faster.鈥�
Alannah Yip of North Vancouver, another Boulders regular over the years, is sa国际传媒鈥檚 climbing representative in the women鈥檚 event today: 鈥淭his is an amazing experience. The energy in the Athletes Village is electric. There are so many people from all corners of the globe. It鈥檚 really inspiring. I鈥檓 excited to represent my country and my sport for the first time. I can鈥檛 wait for my sport鈥檚 debut 颅showing on the world stage.鈥�
