# @sashadigiulian on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C-YD7fbuaPn
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/28720924-sashadigiulian-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/22e5999e25.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-08-07T16:48:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** S A S H A • D I G I U L I A N (@sashadigiulian) — https://gondola.cc/sashadigiulian

## Caption

It is incredibly exciting to watch all of the talented climbers competing in the Olympics! 🧗‍♀️ It’s been such a journey to see the sport progress to being a part of the Olympic Games. When I started competing at 7, the Olympics were not even slightly on the radar of a possibility. In fact, only few people were even aware of rock climbing as a sport. Perhaps living in Boulder, CO skews my perspective of how many people are aware of it now — but— its inclusion to the world’s greatest stage of competition is certainly an indicator of its strong growth and new found popularity. 

During “my day,” (now I feel old!) I’d often be the only American even at a sport climbing World Cup, and my friend matilda_soderlund from team Sweden and I would band together and show up to the technical meetings, void of any “team” or coach, and call ourselves “team amereden.” America + Sweden. At that time many of the US climbers focused on outdoor rock because there was no financial support whatsoever around competition. Competitions would actually be a financial burden versus being on an outdoor climbing trip. 

Through this, something I always found to be incredibly special was growing up with a global network of friends through my experiences in competition. It was amazing to have the opportunity to interact with climbers from around the world, and I am so happy to see this aspect continue to be expand in climbing. It’s so special to see the sport grow, see Team USA totally crushing it, and to see the camaraderie thrive. 

While the style of climbing has changed significantly since my days in competition (I have just focused on outdoor climbing for the last decade), I find it so inspiring to see what is now possible!

Let’s cheer on our climbers and celebrate this historic moment for climbing! 🌟 #Olympics #SportClimbing #ClimbingCommunity #OlympicClimbing #climber #rockclimbing olympics

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## Tags

rockclimbing, olympicclimbing, climbingcommunity, climber, sportclimbing, olympics

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