News Jersey native Jesse Grupper started sport climbing at the age of six and he has now qualified for the Paris Olympics in bouldering and lead combined.
But, yeah, they do, they do put DNA collection. Um, and I think that's like, kind of a fun aspect of the sport is that, like, aren't really? Yeah, I mean, I imagine it's, it's, they've separated speed. Exactly. Yeah. So speed is its own discipline now and then bouldering and lead, which is what I'm doing is, uh, its own discipline as well. Thrilled. This has been a long time dream of mine. And I think it's the second time that climbing will be in the Olympics. I didn't think it was going to be possible when I was a kid competing in local competitions and national competitions. So to have it go from something that was always on the TV. And my sport not being included to having it be where it is. I'm just so excited. Problem solving is a main one that I think is important for any climber to have. These are climbs that you've never seen before. It's the first time that everyone in the competition will get to experience these specific climbs. So you really have to figure them out very quickly and usually the person who is able to solve them, the fastest is the winner. Yeah, I think that bouldering has been kind of a weakness in that combination of bouldering lead for myself. Um, but, you know, with every weakness, it's exciting to be able to make it a strength. And I think that having this eight month block in between October and the Olympics, um, it has been a really fun journey for me to continually improve and be able to give it my all.
