COXSEY Shauna

Preferred discipline
Bouldering (redbull.com, 01 Dec 2017)

General
RETIREMENT PLAN
In June 2021 she announced that the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo would be her last competition as a professional competitive climber. "I know that I have one fight left in me and despite so many unknowns it feels right to be putting everything I have left into such a special moment for our sport. The Olympics will be my last event as a professional competition climber. I've thought long and hard about this and I have many emotions. I made this decision a little while back due to many reasons. But right now all I can think about is how grateful I am. The breadth and depth of my experiences is hard to comprehend. This sport has given me so so much. And to this wonderful community who have supported me through the highs and the lows, I can't thank you enough." (bbc.co.uk, 15 Jun 2021; Instagram profile, 14 Jun 2021)

COVID-19 IMPACT
In 2020 she decided to have surgery on her knee and wrist after the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Her wedding was also postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she eventually married her partner Ned in a small ceremony in June 2021. "It was hard to adjust to the [Olympic] Games being delayed and we'd gone into lockdown. Then my wedding was cancelled on the same day so it was hard. I'm a really positive person though and I tried to make the most of the time so I decided to have surgeries that I needed on my knee and wrist, so I can get as healthy and fit as possible for when competitions do return." (Instagram profile, 06 Jun 2021; bbc.co.uk, 29 Sep 2020)

OLYMPIC CHALLENGE
She says the prospect of competing in speed, lead and bouldering when climbing makes its Olympic debut at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was daunting as she only had prior top-level experience in bouldering. "It's like asking Usain Bolt to run a marathon, then do an egg-and-spoon race. They're not just different disciplines, they're completely different sports. I can't think of one person who stands out in all three disciplines. It's going to be very difficult to train. There's no history, no knowledge, nobody to turn to, no research done on training for all three. But I'm a person who, if I'm motivated to do something, will give 110%. In a lot of ways it [having three disciplines] makes sense. It will showcase our sport. And I never imagined in my wildest dreams that climbing would be an Olympic sport. It's such a young sport. This is like someone going, 'Oh, you can go to Mars if you want'. It feels that unlikely." (redbull.com, 24 Jun 2019)

WOMEN'S CLIMBING SYMPOSIUM
In 2011 she co-founded the Women's Climbing Symposium, an annual event that takes place in England. "What we've tried to do is create a day that any female climber can come along to and benefit from. You can meet people with similar interests, you're going to meet people that are like-minded. It's about giving women the tools to be able to access what's already there and feel confident." (redbull.com, 03 Oct 2016)

She became the first British female sport climber to win a world championship medal when she took bronze in bouldering at the 2019 World Championships in Hachioji, Japan. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Feb 2020; givemesport.com, 14 Aug 2019)