Matthew Phillips (climber)
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]
Matt on his Final's climb at IFSC Climbing World Championships 2018 in Innsbruck | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nickname(s) | Matt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Farnborough, Hampshire | 14 November 2000||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Residence | Guildford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World finals | World Champion 2018, 2019 AU2 Category | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Updated on 10 September 2019. |
Biography
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 started to work as a climbing Instructor.
Filmography
- July 2016 – We're the Superhumans , television advert produced by Channel 4 for 2016 Summer Paralympics[10]
- May 2018 – At Arms Length , YouTube produced by Teri Limongi[11]
- Dec 2018 – Matthew Phillips Shows Us His Moves At Blokfest Brighton | Climbing Daily Ep.1315 , YouTube produced by Epic TV Climbing Daily[12]
- May 2020 – One of a Kind , YouTube produced by David Petts[13]
Competitions
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.[14] In 2017 he finished second at the Cup in Edinburgh and first at the Cup in Sheffield.[15] In 2018 he won both the Cup in Briançon[16] and the World Championships in Innsbruck.[17]
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.[18]
In 2019 he successfully defended his world title by winning a gold medal at the World Paraclimbing Championships in Briançon in France.[19]
References
- "Guildford teenager wins paraclimbing world championship". Eagle Radio. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- Hatch, Tim (April 2018). "IFSC Paraclimbing Classifications, Sec 14" (PDF). ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- "Brilliant performance from GB athletes at IFSC World Championships". thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "GB Paraclimber Matthew Phillips wants to be World Champion and The Terminator". Birchall Blackburn Law. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "Crazy Strength: Matt Phillips Crushes Rock Climbing with One Arm". BarBend. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "Gold for Matthew Phillips at World Paraclimbing Cup". GLL Sport Foundation. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- Khaleeli, Homa (20 July 2016). "We're the Superhumans: meet the stars of Channel 4's Paralympics trailer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "An evening of celebration at the Sport Guildford Awards 2018 | Surrey Chambers". www.surrey-chambers.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- Petts, David. "One of a Kind". Youtube. Epic TV. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- Khaleeli, Homa (20 July 2016). "We're the Superhumans: meet the stars of Channel 4's Paralympics trailer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- Teri Limongi (17 December 2018), At Arms Length |, retrieved 14 March 2019
- EpicTV Climbing Daily (17 December 2018), Matthew Phillips Shows Us His Moves at Blokfest Brighton | Climbing Daily Ep.1315, retrieved 14 March 2019
- David Petts (8 May 2020), One of a Kind |, retrieved 8 May 2020
- "Paraclimbing Cup (L) – Sheffield (GBR) 2016". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "Paraclimbing Cup (L) – Sheffield (GBR) 2017". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "3 gold medals, 1 bronze for GB Paraclimbing Team at Briançon". thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- Climbing, Austria. "Matthew Phillips und Thierry Delarue sind Paraclimbing Weltmeister in den Kategorien M-AU2 und M-AL2". innsbruck2018 (in German). Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- "2019 Scottish Paraclimbing Festival – Results". Climb Scotland. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- "IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships – Briançon (FRA) 2019". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2 December 2019.