Climbing sensation Louise Flockhart chasing Olympic dream

By James Reid, Sportsbeat

Scottish climbing sensation Louise Flockhart is chasing her dreams to compete at the Olympics – despite a disastrous first visit to her local wall.

The Edinburgh athlete, 18, admits she was terrible at the sport when she first started aged eight, with an ultimatum from her parents a few years later the catalyst that transformed her into a potential star of the future.

Flockhart is now part of the senior British team and harbours a long-term goal of competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“I was rubbish to start with – really, really bad!,” joked Flockhart, who has been selected to be part of Aldi’s Rising Stars programme, an initiative with SportsAid that provides talented young athletes with financial support, recognition and personal development opportunities. “Hopefully it is not too much pressure having family there, because normally they are not with me.

“When I was 12 I wanted to go to a competition in Manchester and my mum said she’d only take me if I put the effort in.

“I wrote myself a little training plan, followed it and I really enjoyed the process of working towards a goal.

“In 2018 I got on the GB junior team, and that was then I realised I could continue with it. That allows you to compete internationally and you get access to coaches.

“This year is my last year in junior, I am doing a crossover year between junior and senior. I started off really bad internationally but a couple of weeks ago I picked up a bronze medal at a European Youth Cup.

“I didn’t jump into it and be great, I have definitely improved as I have got older.”

Each athlete on the Rising Stars programme, which was launched with SportsAid last year, receives funding to help towards costs such as travel, accommodation, equipment and nutrition, with Aldi also delivering workshop sessions on a range of topics to help nurture athletes for their sporting endeavours and beyond.

This includes top tips on healthy eating and performance nutrition, restful sleep, managing mental wellbeing, social media training and working with the media.

In addition, the talented young athletes, who have been nominated to SportsAid by the governing bodies of their respective sports, play a key role in the promotion of the supermarket’s ‘Get Set to Eat Fresh’ programme, which aims to educate children on the importance of a healthy diet.

To date this partnership has reached over 2.2 million young people with a target to educate an extra one million children by the end of 2024.

Climbing made its debut at the Olympics at the last Games in Tokyo, with the sport taking audiences by storm due to its speed and seemingly impossible walls.

It is extra motivation for Flockhart, who moved from Scotland to Sheffield last year in order to put in extra hours at the GB Climbing base in the Steel City.

And while moving to live alone as a teenager has come with its challenges, Flockhart is taking it all in her stride.

“I definitely feel like I have come into the sport at a great time,” she added. “Climbing in the UK is booming, so many people I meet tell me they have tried bouldering – that is really exciting for me. To have the opportunity of being at the Olympics is great.

“I am on a gap year and had a chance to move to Sheffield so I thought I am just going to take it. I have been training more than I was, working with a new gym coach, working with my existing climbing coach but in-person rather than remotely.

“Most people at my age go from school to university which is still quite a supported setup, whereas I went from school to living alone.

“I have definitely found it challenging. You come back from training and you have to make your own dinner and do the washing up afterwards. I work as well to support myself financially. It’s busy, it has been a learning curve but it is a great experience.”

Aldi is the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and have partnered with Team GB since 2015, ParalympicsGB since 2022 and will be supporting them through to Paris 2024