Crying when you get to the Olympic Village is a fairly typical experience.
It’s the realisation of a dream for many, but for Molly Thompson-Smith it was because she saw herself represented in a whole host of athletes.
The Londoner is used to being a poster girl for diversity within sport climbing, but the Olympic Games presents a different experience.
“I don’t think you can really imagine or anticipate what it’s like,” the 26-year-old said. “But it’s been incredible.
“For me, walking into the Village and seeing so many different skin tones, sizes, shapes, people, sports. I could have cried with excitement.
“It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder, to feel part of something bigger and not feel different.
“The Village has been incredible, seeing everyone get excited about sport has been incredible, especially new sports that don’t get the same attention as mainstream sport.
“I guess that’s the magic of the Olympics and it’s been such an incredible experience to be a part of it.”
Thompson-Smith made her debut at Paris in sport climbing’s second appearance at an Olympics.
A commentator in Tokyo, Thompson-Smith scored 9.8 in the boulder section of the women’s semi-final before the lead specialist added a score of 66.8 in her favoured discipline to finish 19th overall at her maiden Games.
And as the perfect example of 'if you can see it, you can be it, Thompson-Smith now hopes that her Olympic apperance can inspire a new generation of young black climbers to take up the sport she loves.
Thompson-Smith said: “If you look on the mat, I’m the poster girl for inclusion and diversity.
“It’s very much lacking in climbing and I hope that being a part of the Olympics, and the platform that the Olympics has, will improve that and attract more people to the sport. We really need it.
“It’s an incredible sport, I think it can change loads of people’s lives, but there’s just not enough representation across the board.
“You can count the number of climbers who are black or from ethnic minorities with one hand.
“Especially at the Olympics, there’s two of us. That’s a real shame. I really hope this platform can help change climbing.
“That was the thing I was most excited about when I had found out I’d qualified. Hopefully I can really represent and make a difference.”
Sportsbeat 2024