Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Larcombe and I'm a right leg below knee amputee, and an Australian paraclimbing athlete.

I began my climbing journey in 2019, and in 2022 I competed internationally for the first time, winning one gold and two silver medals at the IFSC World Cups and becoming Australia's first ever IFSC Sport Climbing World Cup medallist and winner.

I followed up my 2022 season with three World Cup silver medals in 2023, and Australia's first ever IFSC World Championships silver medal.

Australian Sport Climbing athletes are primarily self-funded, and juggling training with a full time job has been extremely difficult. My sponsors help ease some of these financial constraints, but I still need some additional help to make competing each year a reality - especially considering I've needed to take months of unpaid leave each year to travel for competitions.

I also volunteer my time as a Board Member of Adaptive Climbing Victoria, as a Member of the Sport Climbing Australia Paraclimbing Committee, and as the Australian Paraclimbing Team Athlete Representative.

Despite being a high performing athlete, because Paraclimbing is an emerging sport I'm currently not eligible for support from the VIS or AIS, and there is no funding from the Australian Government or our national sport climbing federation to compete at any level, especially internationally.

Your donation will help me achieve my competition climbing goals, and allow me to keep helping make climbing accessible to people of all abilities, and to keep building the sport of Paraclimbing in Australia.

Your donations will go towards training, travel, and accommodation costs for me to attend:

• IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup - Salt Lake City, USA (May)
• IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup - Arco, Italy (September)

All donations of $2 or more to this campaign are tax deductible - any amount helps!

To learn more about me and my journey in climbing, check out these links:

• ABC News "Australian paraclimbing champion Sarah Larcombe’s journey to the top of the world"
• ABC News "Paraclimber Sarah Larcombe overcomes barriers to reach new heights"
• ABC News, "Meet Australia's first World Cup paraclimbing medallist"
• ABC Radio Melbourne, "Melbourne para-athlete Sarah Larcombe wins Australia's first ever sport climbing World Cup medal"
• 7 Sport, "Prosthetic leg no barrier as Sarah Larcombe climbs to extraordinary heights with stunning international claim"
• We Are Explorers, "Low on Legs, High on Determination – My Journey to Becoming an Adaptive Climber"

You can also follow along with my journey by following me on Instagram at @sarah_la

Gallery photo credits:

• Katie Jo Myers
• Slobodan Miskovic (IFSC)
• Dimitris Tosidis (IFSC)