Women’s Health UK – September 2019

The idea of falling

scares me quite a bit.

I’ve cried on the rock

many times and I used

to have a recurring

nightmare about falling

from the top of a

climbing wall – I could

feel myself hitting the

ground. But when

you’ve successfully

climbed a wall, you

feel like you’ve really

achieved something.

Doing this shoot is

similar – it’s scary, but

I have to do it to prove

to myself that I can.

At the end of 2017, I

ruptured three pulleys

in my finger; the things

that keep your tendons

in place. I was in shock

because I’d had such a

successful season, but

I think once it was over,

my body just gave up.

Hands are essential

in climbing – when

climbers hurt their

hands, you’ll hear them

say, ‘I wish I’d broken

a leg instead.’ I carried

on climbing with one

hand regardless.

woman, and my arms

are probably my

biggest strength in

climbing. My body looks

the way it does through

effort and hard work.

As well as climbing

practice and gym

When I was younger,

girls didn’t want to be

strong. They wanted

to be small and cute.

But I’ve always been

a competitive tomboy,

so when they were

boasting about doing

the splits, I’d be talking

about how many

pull-ups I could do.

I’m most proud of

my arms and my lats.

I’d worked hard to

become a strong

MOLLY THOMPSON-SMITH, 21

British champion sport climber who is set to compete

in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

sessions, I do ‘finger-

boarding’. This involves

hanging off a plank of

wood that’s sloped to

an edge to help work

on finger strength. It

sounds super dull, but

it’s not as depressing

as it sounds. I really like

it because it’s so easy

to see progress as you

add more weight.

Since my injury, I’ve

learned to listen to my

body. Being injured

forced me to work on

the weaknesses I’d

neglected in the past,

things like flexibility

and how I move on

the wall. I’d always just

pulled through those

issues, but with one

hand you can’t do that.

I now look for long-

term gains instead of

short-term success.

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100 | SEPTEMBER 2019 Women’s Health

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