Sport Climbing’s history in the Olympic Games is very short, but it’s still a history, and because of that there is new landmarks being made all the time. At Paris 2024 one piece of Olympic history is being made by Speed climbers Sarah Tetzlaff and Julian David – they are the first from New Zealand to represent their country in climbing at the Games,

We caught up with them both to see how they are adjusting to their new environment.

David’s initial thoughts were: “It’s a pretty surreal experience. It took us a while to find out whether or not we would actually be coming. We qualified for a spot but then weren’t confirmed by the National Olympic Committee [of New Zealand] so it didn’t feel real, but once we were finally confirmed, and now, it definitely feels real. It’s good to be here and experience it all.”

One big part of the Games for any athlete is the Olympic village, and with her thoughts Tetzlaff said: “The village is pretty awesome. It’s incredible to be surrounded by all these different countries and athletes. It’s inspiring to see all shapes and sizes and ethnicities absolutely crushing it in what they are doing.

“The food hall is pretty cool and walking through all the streets. We get lots of free drinks from vending machines, so yeah, it’s pretty sweet.”

So have they bumped in to anyone famous yet? “We’ve only been in there for around 24 hours,” said Tetzlaff, “so we haven’t really seen anyone yet, but the Jamaican team’s apartments are really close to us so maybe seeing their track athletes will be cool.”

Considering himself a fully-fledged Kiwi, David was actually born in France, and said: “I lived in France until I was about three before moving to New Zealand. I’d come here every couple of years to see my dad’s side of the family who are still here, so you could kind of say it’s a second home for me. I’d still rather represent New Zealand though and try to put them on the map for climbing.”

Being born in the country means David also has some local language skills: “I’m not 100% fluent. I can understand a lot more than I can say, but it’s nice to speak it again. I only speak it one month out of the year so it’s good to have some time to practice.”

Another first for the duo was training at the venue, which Tetzlaff describes: “We had our first session on the practice wall, and it was really hot. I don’t know, like 38 degrees maybe.

“We were struggling a bit, but it’s a good opportunity to test the cooling tools like ice vests and ice packs on the head. The first session in a new place is always a bit wobbly, but that is out the way now and the next sessions we will keep building off that.”

With the wobbles out of the way, what does the next few days look like for the pair? David explains: “We’ve trained hard so the next few days will be trailing off a little so we are itching to get back on the wall when it’s competition time. Then we just go for it.”

David and Tetzlaff will ‘go for it’ when the Speed competition begins, first with the women’s qualification on 5 August before the men begin qualification the next day on 6 August.