South African climber Emily Gray (30) made her mark on history yesterday, claiming second place in Women’s Lead AL2 at the final IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup of the 2021 season. This comes hot on the heels of Chris Cosser (20) and Erin Sterkenburg (18) representing the green and gold at the Tokyo Olympics, giving the SA climbing community reason for plenty of celebration this year.
This is Gray’s second appearance at an IFSC World Cup, having placed 6th at the 2018 Paralympic World Championships in Innsbruck. She has also represented South Africa in swimming at no less than three Paralympic Games: Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. Gray placed third in the Qualification round, closely following Jaqueline Fritz (36) in second and Hannah McFadden (25) in first. The Finals saw McFadden claim gold by a hair, scoring 22 points against Gray’s 21+.
Victory has been hard-won by the multi-talented athlete; at age 11 she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (cancer within the bone). Shortly thereafter, she made the difficult decision to have her left leg amputated in order to save her life. Today, her success stands as a triumph for the adaptive climbing community and its allies.
Gray currently resides in Colorado, USA, but we hope to see her return to home ground soon for a proper Saffa celebration.
