ASHIMA SHIRAISHI

ROCK CLIMBER

Ashima Shiraishi is a world champion rock climber. She was born in New York in 2001, the daughter of Japanese immigrants. She won her first competition when she was seven and, excelling at climbing without ropes and harnesses, she went on to win the American Bouldering Series Youth National Championship in five consecutive years.

In 2015 she set records when she climbed the Open Your Mind Direct route at Santa Linya in Spain, becoming the first female and the youngest person to have achieved a climb of this difficulty. In the 2015 Golden Pitons she was named Climber of the Year. If climbing is accepted as a medal sport, she hopes to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.