- Title: British climber beats lockdown with backgarden workouts
- Date: 15th May 2020
- Summary: BORDON, ENGLAND, UK (MAY 14, 2020) (REUTERS) DRONE SHOT FROM TREES ABOVE HOUSE TO HORROCKS ON CLIMBING WALL IN BACKGARDEN (MUTE) SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH SPORT CLIMBER, IMOGEN HORROCKS, 21, SAYING: "My name is Imogen Horrocks. I am 21 and a member of the GB climbing team." HORROCKS CLIMBING (MUTE) SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH SPORT CLIMBER, IMOGEN HORROCKS, 21, SAYING: "You can do different kinds of mobility things like slack lining is another popular thing you will find a lot of climbers do. It is just a big old slack line suspended between two trees or something and you just balance across it. Kind of like tight rope walking. You have different finger boards and finger strength exercises you can do. A lot of people have boards that they hang over branches and things of trees. So you can do lots of them and just basically floor work and core." HORROCKS PREPARING TO CLIMB SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH SPORT CLIMBER, IMOGEN HORROCKS, 21, SAYING: "I am kind of missing the community a bit. It is nice to see my friends but Skyping isn't the same as going to the wall and chatting to them properly. I am missing going to the team training I am really missing competing, especially at the World Cups and the European Cups I really miss that. And getting on the wall and doing the movement based stuff. You can't do everything on the board unfortunately." HORROCKS CLIMBING SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH SPORT CLIMBER, IMOGEN HORROCKS, 21, SAYING: "I don't have a coach, so I just chat to my friends mainly but I found it very mentally challenging. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in an apartment all day and not even have my board. I think I would go actually insane." HORROCKS CLIMBING SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH SPORT CLIMBER IMOGEN HORROCKS, 21, SAYING: "I think it will be mega for climbing. We will get so much more funding. We will be able to do things and actually have that more support. For athletes, unless you are number one, it is really difficult to get any funding or any help. You still have to do other stuff on the side which kind of takes away from the training." DRONE SHOT UP FROM CLIMBING WALL IN BACKGARDEN TO SKYLINE (MUTE)
- Embargoed: 29th May 2020 14:38
- Keywords: Imogen Horrocks athlete climbing lockdown sport
- Location: BORDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: BORDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Climbing,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001CE1L8OV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: British climbing star Imogen Horrocks has got the perfect place to practice during the coronavirus crisis - on a climbing wall in her parents' backgarden.
The 21-year-old says she has missed her friends and competing during a UK-wide lockdown that is only now being eased, but has been able to keep training.
Meanwhile team GB athlete Horrocks told Reuters on Thursday (May 14) that the inclusion of sport climbing at the Olympics is a boost for competitors as they will receive additional funding, allowing them to focus on their training.
Sport climbing will make its debut in the Tokyo Games, which were scheduled to take place this year but have been postponed to July 23-Aug. 8, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sport climbing at the Olympics will feature a combination of the speed, bouldering and lead disciplines so Horrocks, who only competes in bouldering, said she would give Tokyo, as well as the 2024 Paris Games, a miss.
With Britain in lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and no access to gyms and training facilities, Horrocks has used innovative ways to stay in shape.
"I guess a lot of bodyweight training and different kinds of mobility exercises. Slacklining is a popular thing climbers do. We have different fingerboards and boards they hang over branches and a lot of floor work," she said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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