From climbing trees at Tauranga Intermediate to representing New Zealand at the Paris Olympics, Bay of Plenty speed climber Julian David is sprinting to the top.

His rapid rise in speed climbing mirrors the sport itself, where athletes race each other up a 15m wall in just seconds.

But despite a growing profile, it is missing from the Commonwealth Games, something David believes it would be a “good opportunity”.

David can race 15m up a wall in about five seconds, and is a youth world champion, a first-time Olympian at 19, with national titles and Oceania Championship wins under his belt.

Fresh from defending his fifth Oceania Championship title last month at home in Mount Maunganui, the 21-year-old said speed climbing’s head-to-head format and fast pace could boost the sport’s profile.

“It’s a faster version of the 100m sprint, but vertical, and only 15m.

“It is still a new sport, so I think people really want to see it.”

He told the Bay of Plenty Times having speed climbing as an event in the Commonwealth Games would be comparable to the 100m sprints.

“It’s the same reason as to why people say the 100m is one of the most exciting sports, right? It’s the fastest, head-to-head race.”

He said one of the hardest things was the barrier to entry into trying the sport.

“I think it [Commonwealth Games] would be a pretty good opportunity, especially for younger athletes, to see what it’s like to compete at that level.”

Speed climbing takes place on a 15m-high wall with a route of 20 hand holds and 11 foot holds.

“It’s literally half the time it takes to sprint, which is like nine or 10 seconds, and we’re climbing in five seconds.”

He won this year’s World Climbing Oceania Championship with a time of 5.61 seconds.

Julian David is a youth world champion, a first-time Olympian at 19, and has won national and Oceania titles. Photo / Brydie Photography

David told the Bay of Plenty Times speed climbing was “never in my vision” as the sport he would end up pursuing.

“It wasn’t really a thing, even climbing is a recreational sport, it’s pretty small.”

David said he always liked climbing trees at school and fell out of one while attending Tauranga Intermediate.

“One of the teachers was like, ‘What are you doing? I’ve got a climbing wall in the gym here at school, why don’t you climb that instead?’.”

He started on the indoor climbing wall at his school, and soon after, competed at the Aims Games.

“I did the competition with no training or anything, I came third and thought maybe I should actually train in the sport.”

Aims Games was his first competition, and he competed when rock climbing was first introduced in 2018.

He started speed climbing in 2019 and began specialising in 2022.

In 2023, he won gold in the U20 men’s speed competition at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Youth World Championships, New Zealand’s first youth medal in the division.

“The adrenaline of knowing you did a good run, hitting that buzzer and seeing your time, it’s so exciting to see. It gets you hooked and wanting to do it again and again and again.”

Julian David was selected to represent New Zealand in speed climbing at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Photo / Alyse Wright

He then secured first place at the IFSC Oceania Qualifier in Melbourne, earning a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

David said his first Olympics experience was “pretty overwhelming” because it was the “pinnacle” of sports.

He was one of the first New Zealand climbers to ever qualify for an Olympic Games and he reached the quarter-finals of the speed climbing competition.

He climbed the wall in a time of 5.65s to finish eighth out of 14.

“I guess now I’ve set the bar, and I have to beat it and do better for the next one.”

Rob Moore, Climbing New Zealand high performance director and head coach, said the International Federation of Sport Climbing was in discussions to get climbing into the Commonwealth Games.

“We have been working hard in the last few years to build pathways to the elite level in Speed Climbing.”

Moore said Julian was a “great ambassador” for NZ speed climbing and had brought the awareness of speed climbing to a greater audience.

“We have seen around 50% to 80% growth in our national championships, especially in the younger age groups.”

He said Julian had an “amazing jump”, which made him an “incredibly poppy” athlete.

“This, combined with his dedication to training, always turning up on time and doing exactly what is asked of him. He has a great attitude to competing and is just generally a nice guy.”

Kaitlyn Morrell is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.