Guildford Man Becomes World Paraclimbing Champion For The Third Time

Published on: 29 Sep, 2021
Updated on: 29 Sep, 2021

Guildford-based paraclimber Matthew Phillips has successfully retained his world champion title for the third time coming away with a gold medal at the Gymnastic Palace Arena in Moscow.

Paraclimber Matthew Phillips in action at the 2021 world championships in Moscow.

He was a part of the GB Paraclimbing Team who consist of 13 athletes whose disabilities range from visually impaired to limb amputations.

The GB team put on a sterling performance getting six athletes into the finals and all gaining a medal. Collectively they won two gold, three silver and a bronze, placing them second in the medal table behind Romania.

Matthew Phillips won gold at the world championships. Picture, copyright Russian IFSC photographer.

Matthew, who is also a climbing instructor at Surrey Summit at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, said “The competition in my AU2 category was tougher than the last world championship in 2019, but that’s a good thing. It gives you more of a sense of achievement.”

Zoe Spriggins, GB Climbing’s team manager, said of the teams performance: “Fantastic effort from the whole team! It has been such a privilege to be there and watch the team perform after such a long break due to Covid”.

Paraclimbers say it is a common misconception that paraclimbing is in the Paraympics now but this is not true. The International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee are two different organisations and have their own selection process.

But with the success of sport climbing at the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo it is hoped that a successful bid can be made to have paraclimbing in the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.