20 December 2020
Sterkenburg (17) and Cosser make it to the Olympics
Erin Sterkenburg, who was #33 and #48 in the Youth World Championship last year, and Christoffer Cosser have qualified to Tokyo 2021. In the African Championship, Erin was totally superior winning all six stages meanwhile it was a closer race for Christoffer.
Erin: "I started training at the end of 2019 for Africa Cup, having qualified earlier in the year, as the comp was scheduled for March 2020. Sadly, one week before the comp was supposed to happen, it was cancelled due to Covid-19. South Africa went into lockdown and this was a difficult time for everyone, for me specifically as an athlete without access to a climbing wall. Once lockdown ended and the comp was rescheduled for December it gave me something to work towards and I was super psyched to be able to train and climb again. During training motivation was sometimes low as at times we were unsure if Africa Cup would even happen.
During lockdown I was quite restricted with what training I could do because I donโt have a home wall, so I tried to work on some weaknesses like power. In general I climb about five days a week and I have been doing a lot of comp simulation leading up to Africa Cup. Itโs quite surreal at the moment, it hasnโt really sunk in, but I am so thankful to everyone that has helped me get where I am right now. In the coming months, I will try my best to train as hard as I possibly can to be ready for Tokyo."
Erin: "I started training at the end of 2019 for Africa Cup, having qualified earlier in the year, as the comp was scheduled for March 2020. Sadly, one week before the comp was supposed to happen, it was cancelled due to Covid-19. South Africa went into lockdown and this was a difficult time for everyone, for me specifically as an athlete without access to a climbing wall. Once lockdown ended and the comp was rescheduled for December it gave me something to work towards and I was super psyched to be able to train and climb again. During training motivation was sometimes low as at times we were unsure if Africa Cup would even happen.
During lockdown I was quite restricted with what training I could do because I donโt have a home wall, so I tried to work on some weaknesses like power. In general I climb about five days a week and I have been doing a lot of comp simulation leading up to Africa Cup. Itโs quite surreal at the moment, it hasnโt really sunk in, but I am so thankful to everyone that has helped me get where I am right now. In the coming months, I will try my best to train as hard as I possibly can to be ready for Tokyo."
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