From Pan Ams to Paris, 2 Canadian Olympians face separate challenges in similar ways
Olympic fates of boxer Thibeault, climber McColl hang in balance for distinct reasons
Aug. 5, 2024, 10 a.m. local time.
The date is plastered in Sean McColl's mind — it marks the beginning of the sport climbing competition at the Paris Olympics.
Just one issue: McColl still needs to qualify.
The 36-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C., nearly got it done at the Pan American Games last month in Santiago, Chile. But just as he was leading the competition through the bouldering round, he fell and cracked a rib.
"I can't say whether I would have qualified or not," McColl, who wound up fourth, told CBC Sports in a recent interview. "I was more just happy that I could compete. It would have really frustrated me if they said 'you can't climb your route' because one of my biggest things is there was one route that was separating me from my second Olympics.
"And I live for those moments."
McColl's life work was getting climbing added to the Olympic program — something that occurred, finally, at Tokyo 2020, where he placed 17th.
He'll climb for the right to be called a two-time Olympian at qualifiers next spring.
WATCH | Thibeault wins Pan Am Games gold:
Tammara Thibeault went into the Pan Am Games with two distinct goals: qualify for the Olympics and win gold.
Four years earlier, she was denied her shot at a championship in Lima when she lost her semifinal bout to Colombia's Jessica Caicedo. Caicedo was later stripped of her eventual gold medal for doping.
So Thibeault, the 26-year-old from Shawinigan, Que., sought redemption. She easily reached the final of her 75-kilogram weight class — enough to book her ticket to Paris.
Make that four.
"Now that I've done that, I feel super grateful and just relieved that now my sole purpose and my focus is on being ready and being at my best during the [Olympic] Games," Thibeault said.
Though technically all Thibeault did was assure Canada a quota spot in her Olympic weight class, the reality is it would take an injury to keep her out of France.
The bigger question is whether her sport, which has been featured at every Olympics since 1920, will continue beyond Paris. It was recently put "on hold" for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles due to concerns over the International Boxing Association, the sport's current governing body.
"I have faith that boxing is such a special sport, especially for the Olympics, so I always had faith that you were going to arrange to have it in the Olympics," Thibeault said. "It was just a matter of 'OK, how do we make it work and how do you collaborate and follow the Olympic values.'"
Contrasting yet comparable
McColl and Thibeault present a fascinating contrast.
Yet many of their problems are similar. Neither of their sports are among the most popular Olympic events, perhaps especially within Canada. As such, proper funding can be a battle.
McColl said that bouldering — as opposed to lead and speed climbing, the sport's other two disciplines — requires investment from a national federation.
"It's almost like a national federation owning 100 golf courses so that they can go and practice a different golf course every day so they're ready for any shot," he said. "Whereas our federation has no golf courses. We don't have anything. And so it's all just on the individual athlete to go and figure out where they're going to train."
McColl and Thibeault each participated in the RBC Training Ground final in Toronto last weekend. The event sees athletes across Canada between the ages of 14 and 25 put through a series of speed, power, strength and endurance tests in hopes of pairing them with an Olympic sport.
Past graduates of the program include Kelsey Mitchell, the Sherwood Park, Alta., native who went from being a soccer player to an Olympic gold medallist in track cycling.
"It'll get the sport out there and it will help us grow and it's not only that, RBC Training Ground also gives athletes a chance to earn funding. The funding is super important for amateur athletes any sport. And so getting support for things like travel, nutrition, equipment and coaching is so important," Thibeault said.
Separate paths to Paris
Even their next eight or so months leading into the Paris Olympics won't be so different, with both Canadians solely focused on peaking at the right time.
Thibeault will have two competitions ahead of Paris in addition to multiple training camps. It's a rigorous schedule that will leave her away from home essentially every other month.
McColl has some downtime before the Olympic qualifiers begin in May. He intends to build an elite climbing wall in his basement so that he can train every day without worrying about poor weather.
"I'm pretty excited. I'm sure you'll see it on social media," he said.
And they will both continue pushing their sport's agendas.
Thibeault says she's optimistic for boxing due to the presence of World Boxing, an organization that launched in April with the purpose of working with the International Olympic Committee to ensure that the sport remains part of the Games.
WATCH | Thibeault punches Olympic ticket:
She said she hopes to become more involved with the organization as it gains steam.
"We're working on that really hard and it's looking really great," she said. "Don't count us out yet."
In Tokyo, men's and women's sport climbing podiums where determined by combined scores in all three disciplines — a contrast from typical competitions, where each is contested separately.
For Paris, speed was taken out of the equation since it requires a vastly different skillset from lead and bouldering.
McColl's ultimate goal is to increase the number of Olympic medals awarded in climbing, perhaps even by 2028 — a Games he's not counting himself out of just yet.
"[Tokyo 2020] was like icing on the cake of my lifelong dream to become an Olympian. To have an opportunity to do it a second time for Paris is also quite phenomenal. And then, yeah, to go to L.A., it would just depend on how my body holds up with the three possible disciplines."
