Shauna Coxsey (born 27 January 1993) is an English professional rock climber. She is the most successful competition climber in the UK, having won the IFSC Bouldering World Cup Season in both 2016 and 2017. She retired from competition after competing in the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, and continues to climb at a high level outdoors.

Early life

Coxsey was born in

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

on 27 January 1993. She began climbing in 1997 at the age of four, inspired by a television broadcast of Catherine Destivelle climbing in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. Although she was not tall enough to be allowed to climb, she continued to insist and was eventually allowed on the wall a few months later.

Climbing Career

Coxsey was mainly active in

competition climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock climbing, rock-climbing competition held indoor climbing, indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition ...

and has participated in several international competitions in

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

. She has won the British Bouldering Championships on multiple occasions. In 2012, she won the 9th edition of the Melloblocco and placed 2nd in the World Cup stages in Log-Dragomer and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. She finished third in the 2012 Bouldering World Cup. In 2013, she cleanly ascended her first problem graded when she climbed ''Nuthin' But Sunshine'' in

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is s ...

. In November, she was appointed one of the UK's first British Mountaineering Council Ambassadors. In 2014, Coxsey placed second overall in the IFSC Bouldering World Cup, and fourth at the Bouldering World Championships in Munich. The same year, she became the third woman ever to boulder when she topped ''New Baseline'' in Magic Wood near the Swiss town of

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

. In 2015, she won the British Bouldering Championships in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

and took first place at the Bouldering World Cup in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In late 2016, Coxsey suffered a shoulder injury which prevented her from competing in that year's Bouldering World Championships, despite topping the overall rankings in the Bouldering World Cup. She won four IFSC Climbing World Cups in Meiringen (SUI), Kazo (JPN), Innsbruck (AUT) and Sheffield (UK). At the World Cup in Munich (GER) she placed second. In 2017, she again won four Bouldering World Cup stages, in Meiringen (SUI), Kazo (JPN), Mumbai (IND) and Vail (USA). In Munich (GER) she again placed second and secured the overall 2017 title. Despite being primarily a boulderer, she began training in lead and speed as part of her bid for the 2020 Olympics, which would feature rockclimbing for the first time as a combined discipline. In August 2019, Coxsey won two bronze medals at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Hachioji, in bouldering and the combined event. During the finals of the combined event, she set a British women's

speed climbing Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers. Competition speed climbing, which takes place on a ...

record of 9.141 seconds, securing second place in the speed component of the combined ranking by winning races against Futaba Ito and

Miho Nonaka is a Japanese competition climber who specializes in competition bouldering. She is an Olympic silver medalist in sport climbing. Early life Nonaka's father and sister introduced her to climbing when she was nine years old. Climbing caree ...

before losing to Aleksandra Miroslaw. Her record lasted until August 2024 when it was finally broken by Ava Hamilton at the European Championships. Additionally, by reaching the finals of the combined event, Coxsey secured a qualification spot for Tokyo's

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, the first to include competitive climbing. When the Olympics was finally in 2021, she was recovering from a back injury, surgical treatment and rehabilitation. She came 10th in the competition, noting that even though she wasn't at peak fitness, she "kind of did a lot better than hethought hewould.". She retired from competitive climbing after the Olympics, while continuing as an elite-level rock climber with a focus on outdoor bouldering. In 2022, Coxsey continued climbing on indoor climbing walls whilst pregnant with her first child; she worked with a specialist physiotherapist and her husband, who is also a climber, to assess the routes as her body shape changed. Upon returning to outdoor climbing, after having her first child, she has climbed at a high level, including sending three 8B+ (V14) climbs in 2024, and another in 2025.

Commentating

Coxsey commentated for the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Bern, and in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, and as a pundit for Eurosport/Discovery broadcast of the Olympics.

Personal life

Coxsey was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to climbing. She married fellow climber Ned Feehally in 2021. They reside in

. She has a daughter called Frankie.

Rankings

World Cup

World Championships

Youth Adult

World Cup podiums

Bouldering

Outdoor bouldering

Coxsey is the first British woman to climb the V12, V13, and V14 grades. : :* ''New Base Line'' – Magic Wood (Switzerland) – 12 July 2014 – First female ascent of Bernd Zangerl's Boulder (2002) :* ''Fotofobia'' - La Pedriza, Spain - March 2024 :* ''The Boss'' - Yarncliff Edge,

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

- May 2024 - 8th ascent, first female ascent. :* ''Hazel Grace'' - Gotthard Pass, Switzerland - June 2024 :* ''Mito'' -

Sintra Sintra (, ), officially the Town of Sintra (), is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2021 was 385,654, in an area of . Sintra is one of the ...

, Portugal - February 2025 - first female ascent. : :* ''Ropes of Maui'' – Dinas Mot (United Kingdom) – 5 April 2016 – First female ascent (first ascent by Pete Robins, 2014) :* ''One Summer in Paradise'' – Magic Wood (Switzerland) – 3 July 2014 – Second female ascent (first ascent by Martin Keller, 2005) :* ''Zarzaparrilla'' – Albarracin (Spain) – 31 March 2014 – First female ascent :* ''Nuthin But Sunshine'' – Lower Chaos (

, United States) – 26 June 2013 – First female ascent (first ascent by Dave Graham, 2000) :* ''Wild Wild West'' - La Pedriza, Spain - March 2024 :* ''Pin y Pon'' - La Pedriza, Spain - March 2024 :* ''Fat Lip'' - Raven Tor, UK - April 2024

References

External links

* *
Red Bull profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coxsey, Shauna British rock climbers British female climbers Living people 1993 births Sportspeople from Runcorn Members of the Order of the British Empire Sport climbers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic sport climbers for Great Britain IFSC Climbing World Championships medalists IFSC Climbing World Cup overall medalists Boulder climbers British competition climbers