Dylan Parks, 18, is an Australian climber who placed fourth in the open national boulder selection and sixth in the open lead selection. In 2022, Dylan Parks won the Boulder National Champion (Youth A) title. He’s also eligible for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Dylan Parks was born on January 22, 2006, in Australia. He currently lives in the Sydney suburb of Cabarita. Dylan stands 171 centimeters (around 5 feet 7 inches) tall.
Dylan Parks qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024
Dylan Parks secured a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics by finishing third at the IFSC Oceania Qualifying Event held in Melbourne, Australia. This event combined bouldering and lead climbing scores.
In the semifinal round, Dylan scored 108.6 points. In the final round, he scored 105.2 points. With these scores, Dylan outperformed Australian competitor Ben Abel, who scored 100.6 points in the semifinal and 87.8 points in the final.
Also Read: Australia Sport Climber Campbell Harrison qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024
However, Dylan’s scores were not enough to defeat two other Australian climbers. Campbell Harrison took first place, scoring 149.5 points in the semifinal and 154.1 points in the final. Sam Lavender claimed second place with 128.5 semifinal points and 122.8 final points.
Dylan began his Climbing Career at the age of just 9
He began climbing 9 years ago, in 2015 when he was 9 years old. Dylan frequents the 9 Degrees bouldering gyms in Parramatta and Waterloo, where he has also set climbing routes in the past. For lead climbing, he goes to the two Sydney Indoor Climbing Gyms.
Dylan’s passion for climbing was sparked during a trip to Thailand in 2018. With almost no prior training, he was sent up a climbing rope for the first time. This exciting experience made him want to climb more. From then on, he spent countless hours climbing, learning mostly by teaching himself and using online guides.
Dylan’s first major bouldering competition was the NSW State Titles. He had a memorable win by quickly solving the last boulder problem with a tricky knee bar technique. These days, Dylan receives coaching from Chew at Grit Climbing and Alex at First Ascent Climbing. He attended St Patrick’s College for his studies.
When Dylan started climbing, he did not look up to any childhood climbing heroes in particular. However, he has been lucky to meet and train alongside famous climbers like Chris Sharma, Neil Gresham, and Anna Taylor.
In 2019, Dylan represented Australia in competitions. That year, he took part in three open World Cup events and three Youth World Championships.
Dylan had a memorable victory at the NSW State Titles competition. He completed all but one of the boulder problems successfully. On the final boulder, he used a tricky knee bar technique to solve it on his first attempt without any prior practice on that problem. This outstanding flash of the last boulder problem secured Dylan’s win at the state championship.
Dylan Parks’ Recent Years and Olympics
On September 1, 2022, Dylan competed at the IFSC Youth World Championships in Dallas, USA. In the Speed discipline for Youth Males, he placed 25th after scoring 7.88 seconds in the qualification round.
At that same Youth World Championships event on September 1, 2022, Dylan also competed in the Boulder discipline for Youth Males. He scored 2t4z 2 4 in the qualification round, which ranked him in the 26th position.
In 2020, Dylan received an Individual Sports Award from the Strathfield Council and the Rotary Club of Strathfield. This award recognized his contributions to the sport of rock climbing.
On August 27, 2023, Dylan competed at the IFSC Youth World Championships in Seoul, South Korea. In the Boulder discipline for Youth Males, he secured the 7th position.
Later that year, on November 26, Dylan participated in the IFSC Oceania Qualifying Event held in Melbourne. This competition combined scores from bouldering and lead climbing. Dylan finished in 3rd place in the Boulders & Lead Male category, earning him a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In 2024, Dylan took part in the NSW/ACT State Lead and Speed Titles competition at the Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym in Villawood.
He also had the opportunity to compete in his first open-level bouldering event outside of Australia. This was the SMU Gravical competition held in Singapore. Dylan made it all the way to the finals in this event, expressing satisfaction with his result at his first international open boulder competition.
