PARIS, France – Competition climbing is going to be a fun watch in the Olympics. Like with any sport, you can expect the best of the best athletes to be competing, which often means some of the most famous athletes in their individual sport. So why isn’t Alex Honnold, arguably the most well known climber in the world, competing this year? I’ll let him explain most of it himself, but the short answer is that he’s just not good enough.
“Alex Honnold is the most famous climber in the world. And the Olympics are arguably slightly more famous. Why is it then, that Alex won’t be competing in Paris?“
Really it’s just that Alex Honnold isn’t a competitive climber. Is he the best, or at least one of the best, at what he does? Of course! He holds speed records on several routes around the world. But that doesn’t mean he belongs in the Olympics for sport or speed climbing. It also doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an insane amount of respect for the people who are competing in the Olympics. It’s just not the same stuff. Team USA has some incredible climbers that are going to be a blast to watch, have plenty of faith in that.
Also, listen to Alex Honnold’s podcast Climbing Gold, that’s where this clip is from, and there’s sure to be a lot of interesting insight coming from him surrounding the Olympics.
