Westville teen climbs her way to Tokyo Olympics

WESTVILLE rock climber, Erin Sterkenburg is the only female from Africa who qualified to represent the continent at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 17-year-old started climbing in Grade 8, when she joined the climbing club at Westville Girls’ High School and then started to compete in the local schools’ climbing league.

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Within three months she excelled in both the provincial and national tournament and was placed second in KZN for Bouldering and fifth at SA Nationals for Lead.

Last year, Erin participated in the Africa Cup qualifiers and was placed first in Lead and second in Bouldering.

The Africa Cup was due to be held in March 2020, but was postponed due to the Covid pandemic and ended up taking place in December 2020.

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Erin won all three disciplines convincingly and qualified to represent Africa at the Olympics.

She said she loves the camaraderie of the climbing community and enjoys the challenge of the different climbing routes.

The dedicated Erin attributes her success to good coaches who motivated her, challenged her and pushed her to better herself.

“I genuinely love the sport and am committed to training in order to be the best climber I can be,” she said.

She said she was grateful that Africa was given a spot for a climbing athlete at the Olympics and feels privileged to have the opportunity to climb alongside, watch and learn from the top climbers in the world who will be participating in Tokyo.

The matric learner is a keen sportswoman, who has played indoor hockey, U16A and 1st team outdoor hockey, U16A and 1st team basketball and is the highest achieving member of the school Rock Climbing team.

Erin is also a dedicated scholar who consistently achieves well academically at Westville Girls’ High’ School.

At this stage, Japan has said that the Olympics will go ahead and she therefore has to train and prepare in order to be ready to participate.

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