Hamish McArthur

Hamish McArthur (born 6 March 2002) is an English professional rock climber and former competition climber, who specialised in competition bouldering and competition lead climbing events.

In September 2021, he finished third in his first appearance at the IFSC Climbing World Championships. In June 2024 he secured his place for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the Lead and Bouldering discipline, where he made the final and finished in 5th place.

Early life

McArthur grew up in York, North Yorkshire attending Park Grove Primary School and then Joseph Rowntree School. At the age of 11 he became the youngest member of the Great Britain junior climbing squad. When McArthur was 12 he won the under 14s category at the British Youth Climbing Series Finals in Edinburgh.

Climbing career

Competition climbing

At junior level, McArthur won the gold medal at the IFSC Junior Boulder World Championship in Voronezh, beating his previous best result of silver at the 2019 IFSC Youth World Championships.

On McArthur's senior debut, he won third place in at the in Moscow.

McArthur represented Great Britain in the sport climbing at the Paris Olympics finishing fifth in the Combined Boulder and Lead final.

On 26 March 2026, McArthur announced his retirement from competition climbing.

Rock climbing

Hamish has made some notable ascents on outdoor sport climbing routes. In December 2019, he redpointed Jungle Speed , followed shortly after by A Muerte ; both are located in Siurana.

In 2025, he made the second ascent of Megatron , in Colorado, USA.

In 2025, he made the second ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked , in Colorado, USA. This ascent marked the first V17 ever climbed in just one day of effort.