.jpg) Matt on his Final's climb at IFSC Climbing World Championships 2018 in Innsbruck | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname | Matt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (2000-11-14) 14 November 2000 (age 23) Farnborough, Hampshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Climbing instructor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Climbing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type of climber | Sport climbing, bouldering | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest grade |
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| Known for |
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| Major ascents | Reefer Madness, 6c Clear Creek (Colorado), USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World finals | World Champion 2018, 2019, 2021 AU2 Category | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 10 September 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matthew Phillips is a British paraclimber. He competes on the Great Britain Paraclimbing Team, where he was the youngest member,[1] and is the current World Champion in the AU2[2] (Upper Arm Amputation) category.[3] He is coached by GB Team's Head Coach Robin O'Leary.[4]
Phillips was born missing his right lower arm from the elbow down. He started out as a national swimmer, but switched to climbing when he was around 13.[5] He attended Salesian College in Farnborough.[6] He started climbing seriously in 2014.[7] In 2016 he was featured in the Channel 4's Paralympics trailer 'We're the Superhumans'.[7] in 2018 he won the Young Sports Personality of the Year in the Sport Guildford Awards.[8]
He left school in 2019 and spent time in Boulder, Colorado climbing with his coach Robin O'Leary and a number of US climbers. Whilst out there he was joined by film maker David Petts of Volo Digital to film footage for the film 'One of Kind[9]' which is available on Epic TV YouTube channel. Phillips returned to the United Kingdom where he now works as a Climbing Instructor at Surrey Summit, alongside competing.[10]
Phillips has competed in a number of national and international competitions. In 2016 he won the Paraclimbing Cup in June in Italy,[6] and in September in Sheffield.[18] In 2017 he finished second at the Cup in Edinburgh and first at the Cup in Sheffield.[19] In 2018 he won both the Cup in Briançon[20] and the World Championships in Innsbruck.[21]
In the ParaClimb Scotland 2019 Competition Phillips took gold in what is thought to have been the first Para-Speed Climbing event, on an international approved speed wall, in the United Kingdom with a time of 25.36s. Although his personal best came on the first qualifying route at 23.11s.[22]
In 2019 he successfully defended his world title by winning a gold medal at the World Paraclimbing Championships in Briançon in France.[23] He became Three times World Paraclimbing Champion in 2021 when he won Gold in Moscow[24]
