Campbell Harrison, 26, is an Australian sport climber who won the Senior National Lead Championships in 2015 and has held the National Lead Championship Title in his youth category since 2013. In addition, Campbell qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and won two titles at the Sport Climbing Australia national championships in 2022.
Campbell Harrison qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024
Campbell Harrison earned a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He did this by finishing first place at the IFSC Oceania Qualifier event in Melbourne, Australia. This event combined the bouldering and lead climbing disciplines for men.
In the semifinal round, Campbell scored 149.9 points. In the final round, he scored 154.1 points. These scores were higher than the other top finishers – Sam Lavender who had 122.8 points, and Dylan Parks with 105.2 points.
By winning the Oceania qualifier competition, Campbell secured his position to participate in the men’s bouldering and lead climbing combined event at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“It’s been an insurmountably difficult road getting here, and this moment feels like the culmination of over a decade of very literal blood, sweat, and tears. But I also know that the hard work has only just begun. In the lead up to qualifying for Paris, I worked harder than I’ve ever worked before, but I plan on taking my training to a whole new level in order to be ready for the 2024 games.”
Harrison says
Campbell Harrison’s Early Years, and Family
Campbell Harrison was born on June 28th, 1997 in Dandenong, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. He was raised in the nearby suburb of Seaford.
His mother’s name is Yvette Harrison, and he has two sisters named Kelsey and Emily.
Campbell Harrison is an Openly Gay Athletes
Campbell Harrison is an openly gay person, and he is in a romantic relationship with his partner Justin Maire, He frequently shares about their relationship on social media websites, where people describe them as an extremely cute couple.
Harrison’s relationship with Justin is a major part of his life. He recognizes the support and encouragement Justin provides him. Harrison states that over the past 4 years, Justin has been his biggest supporter and the most important person to him.
The photo mentioned shows Campbell and Justin together as a happy couple. Their strong relationship is meaningful to Campbell as he follows his climbing career and recent qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Campbell Harrison’s Early Start of Rock Climbing Journey
Campbell started rock climbing at age 8, thinking it seemed like a “cool hobby.” He was an adventurous kid who often made his parents worry he could get hurt. After around 4 years of climbing, he began competing.
As he gained more experience, Campbell’s home climbing gym became Bayside Rock in Victoria, and his senior club was Urban Climb Collingwood.
A training camp in 2012 sparked Campbell’s true passion and dedication to climbing. He worked very hard to improve his skills before trying out for the Australian Youth Climbing Team. Although he initially doubted his abilities met the standard, he ended up qualifying, which was a major turning point in his climbing journey.
In September 2012, 15-year-old Campbell competed at the IFSC World Youth Championships in Singapore, placing 46th.
In May 2013, at the Oceania Continental Championships in New Caledonia, 16-year-old Campbell remarkably won 1st place in the Lead Youth Male category. A few months later in August at the World Youth Championships in Canada, he placed 33rd in Lead Youth Male.
In 2014 at the World Youth Championships in New Caledonia, 17-year-old Campbell made the Lead semi-finals, finishing 15th overall.
Campbell Harrison Publicly revealing about being gay for the first time
In 2015 at age 18, Campbell won the Senior National Lead Climbing Championship in Australia, showcasing his exceptional lead skills. This year also marked an important moment when he publicly spoke about being gay for the first time at an LGBTQ+ inclusion panel, which he described as life-changing.
In June 2016 at the Oceania Championships in Sydney, 19-year-old Campbell won 1st in Lead Juniors and took 2nd in the Lead Men’s category.
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In July 2017, 20-year-old Campbell placed 8th in Lead Men at the World Games in Poland. A few months later in October at an IFSC World Cup event in China, he was 23rd in Lead Men.
In July 2018 at another IFSC Lead World Cup event in France, 21-year-old Campbell finished 43rd in the Lead Men category. He competed in some other events during this period but did not achieve any other top results.
In October 2019, 22-year-old Campbell was 19th in the Boulder Men’s event at the World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar. In July 2020 at an IFSC Lead World Cup in France, he placed 37th.
Campbell’s Recent Years and Olympics Qualification
In December 2020, Campbell competed at the IFSC Oceania Continental Championships in Sydney, Australia in the Combined Men’s event, finishing an impressive 8th place. He was Australia’s top-ranked climber at the time and on track to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics when COVID-19 lockdowns and border closures cut short his qualifying competitions.
In July 2021, Campbell participated in an IFSC Lead Climbing World Cup event in Briancon, France, where he placed 25th in the Lead Men’s category. Around this time, he also publicly came out as gay, becoming an inspiring example for other LGBTQI athletes.
In June 2022, Campbell secured 5th position in the Lead Men’s event at the University World Championship competition in Innsbruck, Austria. Later that year, he won two titles at the 2022 Sport Climbing Australia National Championships – the lead climbing event where climbers try to get as high as possible on an overhanging wall in a set time, as well as the combined event.
In November 2023, Campbell won 1st place at the IFSC Oceania Qualifier event in Melbourne in the Boulder and Lead Men’s combined category. This outstanding result qualified him for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Campbell was also elected to the IFSC Athletes’ Commission for 2023-2027.
In 2024 leading up to the Paris Games, Campbell balances his training with working jobs teaching climbing classes and as a barista. After training in Melbourne early in the year, he travels to Europe for a few months to compete in events on the road. Throughout his professional career so far, Campbell has consistently finished in the top 40 worldwide in both lead climbing and bouldering disciplines, making semi-final rounds at multiple World Cup events.
