To make education more accessible for athletes who are training for international competitions and the Olympics, USA Climbing (USAC) and Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) have formed an agreement in which SLCC will become the official community college provider to USAC.
The agreement will waive tuition for USAC national team athletes for up to 12 consecutive semesters, running through at least the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. USAC athletes will have access to a variety of physiological performance assessments through faculty expertise and resources in the college’s Exercise Science program. This partnership mirrors a similar agreement SLCC has had with the US Speedskating team since 2018.
"We are thrilled about the benefits that this partnership will provide to our athletes. In working directly with SLCC's Exercise Science Department, our climbers will have access to state-of-the-art assessments and analyses to help them perform at the highest level,” said CEO Marc Norman, USAC. “Additionally, SLCC's scholarships will empower National Team athletes to more easily pursue academic journeys without sacrificing their athletic commitments."
In addition to the tuition assistance made possible by the partnership, many athletes find that SLCC’s flexible scheduling and extensive online offerings allow them time to train and compete.
“As Utah ramps up to host the Olympics in 2034, Salt Lake Community College wants to do its part to support future Olympic athletes to make it possible for them to pursue an education while also training for the biggest competition of their lives,” said Greg Peterson, President of Salt Lake Community College. “We are incredibly proud to be able to play a role in supporting these elite athletes.” A number of Olympians have already attended and graduated from SLCC, including Erin Jackson, who earned a gold medal in speedskating at the 2022 Olympics.
Sport climbing is a relatively new Olympic sport, debuting at the Tokyo Games in 2020. In the summer Paris games, Brooke Raboutou took home a silver medal in Boulder and Lead, becoming the first US woman to win an Olympic medal in the sport. Sam Watson, a Salt Lake City local, also won a bronze medal and set a new world record in the Men's Speed category.
USA climbing will draw more competitive sport climbing athletes to the area with plans to build a world-class national training center in Salt Lake City, where large-scale competitive climbing events will be held, and resources and elite training spaces will cultivate new potential Olympians as soon as the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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