Alannah Yip first tried climbing at age six and by 12 she was a National Champion.

Inspired by her family friend Sean McColl – who would later become her Olympic teammate in Tokyo 2021 – and his brother Jason, she began to reach for an Olympic dream.

The close-knit climbing community in Vancouver provided a welcoming place to succeed, fail and learn alongside Canada’s best who were consistently competing in international events and World Championships establishing a path forward for young and promising climbers.

As a gifted academic, Alannah also decided to pursue her university education and reluctantly pulled away from climbing for a year and a half to launch her studies at UBC with the support of her family and club.

Her coach, Andrew Wilson, sent her off to school with some unique encouragement:

“Embrace your geekdom!”

Alannah carried the words from her climbing community and into her academic pursuits earning a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering.

“When I was little, six or seven, I wanted to be an inventor, just like my dad, which, I realized later was engineering,” Alannah said.

But it was the time away from climbing that made her realize that she needed to combine the technical focus of her academic studies and the artistry of her athletic gifts if she wanted to follow Sean to Tokyo 2021.

In Sport Climbing’s debut at the Olympics, she sought the perfect balance of the technique and artistry required for a personal best on the world’s biggest stage.

And, in a Canadian record time of 7.99 seconds, she managed to find both.