Kyra Condie Olympic training interview

Kyra Condie started to climb at age 11 and almost directly it was discovered that she had severe idiopathic scoliosis. In 2010, she did spinal fusion surgery to correct her more than 70-degree curvature and the doctors did not think she could continue to climb. In 2019, she qualified to Tokyo in Toulouse by being #7 which was quite a sensation as she previously the same year, only once had been Top-13 out of 18 World Cups. Last December she was listed on the Forbes30 under 30 list.

How much does the spinal fusion surgery affect your climbing nowadays?
Basically, it affects my climbing all the time and it is why I climb the way I do. The entire section of my back can not bend or twist at all. I think if you watch me climb. I tend to stay really straight on the wall. I do not twist a ton and I do not climb super gracefully. I usually have to muscle through moves that most people would be able to bend or twist and that makes it looks nicer.

Could you please explain a normal training week?
Let’s see, a normal training week consists of five days of training and two full rest days. Each day I have to do double sessions where one session is a workout and the other session is climbing. Sometimes the workout it weights or cardio, sometimes it’s more climbing-specific like campusing or hangboarding! We also make sure to do speed once a week as well as specifically competition boulders

Who are your training partners and what do they mean to you?
I’ve been training a lot with Allison Vest who’s also my roommate! She moved down from Canada so we could train together. I also have been on the same schedule as Nathaniel Coleman so we’ve been doing a lot together, which I think is awesome for our team camaraderie and for the psych! There’s also a big group of younger girls here who are incredibly psyched and motivate me every day!

How do plan to compete before Tokyo?
The plan is to go to as many world cups that I can go to safely! As well as continue doing mock competition rounds and prepare as best as possible in Salt Lake.