Natalia Grossman a 22-year-old is an American professional rock climber who has secured her spot at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
Natalia’s Early Life in California
Natalia Grossman was born on 22 June 2001 in Santa Cruz, California, and has participated in all three Rock climbing games (Boulder, Lead, Speed).
She first fell in love with climbing as a young girl. When Grossman was 15 years old, in a telling sign of their dedication, her family took out from California to Boulder, Colorado for her to train with Team ABC.
After graduating high school, Grossman attended the University of Colorado-Boulder, pursuing a psychology degree with a business minor. She completed her studies in 2022.
Grossman presently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, home to the USA Climbing National Team Training Center. There she trains daily alongside the country’s best climbers.
Natalia Grossman qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics
On Tuesday, October 24th, 2023, Natalia Grossman won gold in the bouldering and lead combined event at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
She has secured a quota spot at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics after the victory, where sport climbing will make its second straight appearance as an Olympic event after debuting in Tokyo just three years prior.
At the Pan American Games, Brooke Raboutou took silver, Canadian Alannah Yip took the bronze with Anastasia Sanders finished fourth in the final event of sport climbing.
Grossman topped the boulder, solving the first three, accumulating 84.3 points and a 14.9-point lead over silver medalist Brooke Raboutou of the United States.
“It was cool to hit that quote-unquote rock bottom, take a step back, reassess, make changes for the Pan Am competition, and then end up winning,” Grossman said. “It taught me how much small changes can make a difference.”
Grossman said.
Natalia Grossman’s career has been over 15 years
In the making since I first stepped foot on a climbing wall at age 6. A passion was born in those Santa Cruz climbing gyms that launched a journey that now has Grossman knocking on Olympic glory’s door.
Grossman took her talents to the competitive stage as a 14-year-old in 2015 at the IFSC World Youth Championships. In her debut performance against some of the top youth climbers globally, she finished 4th a preview of the podium finishes to come.
Over the following years, Grossman continued to compete at youth and adult international events. Her breakthrough finally came at the 2019 Youth World Championships in Arco, Italy, where she won silver in bouldering while also placing 4th in speed and 6th in lead climbing.
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That same year, the then 17-year-old went on an absolute tear domestically. She appeared undefeated at the top of the National Cup bouldering series, also earning the National Bouldering Open Championship title in 2020.
On top of her youth dominance, Grossman held her own against world-class adult competition too. She advanced to the semifinals of the Boulder World Cup in Vail in 2019, missing the final round by one spot in 7th position.
With global events stopped by COVID-19 in 2020, Grossman shifted focus to the great outdoors, for the first time in her career conquering four challenging V13/8B graded boulders in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Natalia Grossman Career After Covid
Natalia Grossman returned when competitive climbing resumed in 2021 after COVID-19. She on time made her name in the history books during her first professional season, becoming the first American woman in over 25 years to capture bouldering gold at a World Cup event.
She carried that momentum by qualifying for the final and finishing 3rd in the 2021 World Cup season in Meiringen. But Grossman was just getting warmed up. In back-to-back World Cups held on home soil in Salt Lake City the following month, the 22-year-old stunned the field to win two straight golds.
In the Salt Lake City event, she dramatically defeats rival Janja Garnbret. Despite both athletes topping all four final problems, Grossman won under fewer attempts. In doing so, 22-year-old Grossman broke Garnbret’s streak of 27 straight World Cup podium finishes no woman had accomplished since 2018.
Grossman spent 2022 as the world’s top female boulder, dominating the World Cup circuit by winning 5 of 6 events to easily secure the overall title. Ans she also added a 3rd place overall finish in the lead-climbing World Cup standings the same year. At the IFSC World Cup in Innsbruck, in the women’s boulder competition, she took the gold medal.
Her dominance continued in 2023 with gold medal wins at World Cups in Salt Lake City and Brixen, Italy, plus a silver in Innsbruck, Austria.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics, Grossman appears poised to translate her recent run of success onto the Olympic stage next summer.
