Shauna Coxsey

Shauna Coxsey (born 27 January 1993) is an English professional rock climber. She is the most successful competition climber in the UK, having won the IFSC Bouldering World Cup Season in both 2016 and 2017. She retired from competition after competing in the 2020 Olympics, and continues to climb at a high level outdoors.

Early life Coxsey was born in Runcorn on 27 January 1993. She began climbing in 1997 at the age of four, inspired by a television broadcast of Catherine Destivelle climbing in Mali. Although she was not tall enough to be allowed to climb, she continued to insist and was eventually allowed on the wall a few months later.

Climbing career

Coxsey was mainly active in competition climbing and has participated in several international competitions in bouldering. She has won the British Bouldering Championships on multiple occasions. In 2012, she won the 9th edition of the Melloblocco and placed 2nd in the World Cup stages in Log-Dragomer and Innsbruck.

In late 2016, Coxsey suffered a shoulder injury which prevented her from competing in that year's Bouldering World Championships, She won four IFSC Climbing World Cups in Meiringen (SUI), Kazo (JPN), Innsbruck (AUT) and Sheffield (UK). At the World Cup in Munich (GER) she placed second. Despite being primarily a boulderer, she began training in lead and speed as part of her bid for the 2020 Olympics, which would feature rockclimbing for the first time as a combined discipline.

In August 2019, Coxsey won two bronze medals at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Hachioji, in bouldering and the combined event. During the finals of the combined event, she set a British women's speed climbing record of 9.141 seconds, securing second place in the speed component of the combined ranking by winning races against Futaba Ito and Miho Nonaka before losing to Aleksandra Miroslaw. Additionally, by reaching the finals of the combined event, Coxsey secured a qualification spot for Tokyo's 2020 Summer Olympics, the first to include competitive climbing. When the Olympics was finally in 2021, she was recovering from a back injury, surgical treatment and rehabilitation. She came 10th in the competition, noting that even though she wasn't at peak fitness, she "kind of did a lot better than [she] thought [she] would.". She retired from competitive climbing after the Olympics, while continuing as an elite-level rock climber with a focus on outdoor bouldering.

In 2022, Coxsey continued climbing on indoor climbing walls whilst pregnant with her first child; she worked with a specialist physiotherapist and her husband, who is also a climber, to assess the routes as her body shape changed. Upon returning to outdoor climbing, after having her first child, she has climbed at a high level, including sending three 8B+ (V14) climbs in 2024, and another in 2025.

In 2026 she briefly returned to competition climbing for the final CWIF (Climbing Works International Festival) competition, finishing in first place over and Jenya Kazbekova.

Commentating Coxsey commentated for the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Bern, and in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, and as a pundit for Eurosport/Discovery broadcast of the Olympics.

Personal life Coxsey was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to climbing. She married fellow climber Ned Feehally in 2021. Fotofobia - La Pedriza, Spain - March 2024 Nuthin But Sunshine – Lower Chaos (Rocky Mountain National Park, United States) – 26 June 2013 – First female ascent (first ascent by Dave Graham, 2000) Zarzaparrilla – Albarracin (Spain) – 31 March 2014 – First female ascent One Summer in Paradise – Magic Wood (Switzerland) – 3 July 2014 – Second female ascent (first ascent by Martin Keller, 2005) Ropes of Maui – Dinas Mot (United Kingdom) – 5 April 2016 – First female ascent (first ascent by Pete Robins, 2014) Wild Wild West - La Pedriza, Spain - March 2024 Pin y Pon - La Pedriza, Spain - March 2024 Fat Lip - Raven Tor, UK - April 2024 À Lay’s Blaise Assis - Fontainbleau - 2026 The Wall: Climb for Gold (2022) Red Bull Dual Ascent (2022) Great British Menu S19 E3: North East England: Judging (2024)