🧵The Best Athlete You’ve Never Heard Of
As a child Chris Sharma knew he was a good athlete but the usual sports didn’t click with him. Then, at age 12, he stumbled into a climbing gym.
What ensued is the single fastest rise to dominance by any athlete, in any sport, ever.
👇
As a child Chris Sharma knew he was a good athlete but the usual sports didn’t click with him. Then, at age 12, he stumbled into a climbing gym.
What ensued is the single fastest rise to dominance by any athlete, in any sport, ever.
👇
Faster than Serena, LeBron, and even Tiger.
Within 4 years, the skater boy from Santa Cruz was the best climber in the world, having established some of the hardest outdoor routes & won a World Cup event…
...without training for it.
Within 4 years, the skater boy from Santa Cruz was the best climber in the world, having established some of the hardest outdoor routes & won a World Cup event…
...without training for it.
🤯Let's put this into perspective:
Imagine a 6th grader picking up a golf club for the first time, playing purely for fun, and by their sophomore year in high school winning a PGA Tour event.
Tiger won his first pro tourney at age 20, after 19 years of maniacal practice.
Imagine a 6th grader picking up a golf club for the first time, playing purely for fun, and by their sophomore year in high school winning a PGA Tour event.
Tiger won his first pro tourney at age 20, after 19 years of maniacal practice.
Sharma's natural strength - especially in his fingers - was freakish to a degree that may be unique in the history of sport. He was often criticized for poor technique but what he lacked in grace he more than made up for with brute strength, driving his competitors wild.
My favorite Sharma story is of his first World Cup event:
He shows up for the event having been climbing outside rather than training indoors like the other competitors. All of the pros are obsessed with training and diet, trimming every ounce possible to be light on the wall.
He shows up for the event having been climbing outside rather than training indoors like the other competitors. All of the pros are obsessed with training and diet, trimming every ounce possible to be light on the wall.
The fashion of the era was to wear tight lycra pants & a tank top to showcase the competitors' lean, sinewy bodies. Sharma shows up with baggy shorts & tshirt and during one of the early rounds of the competition, he was halfway up the wall when his wallet & keys fell out.
Fellow climbing legend Tommy Caldwell puts it this way: “Sharma wasn’t just a little stronger than everyone else, he was miles ahead.”
But after winning that World Cup event, Sharma promptly quit competitive climbing...
But after winning that World Cup event, Sharma promptly quit competitive climbing...
...and went on the set the standard in outdoor climbing for the next 20+ years.
It’s hard to imagine an athlete exploding onto the scene like this again in any sport. Yet Sharma is all but unknown outside of the climbing community.
It’s hard to imagine an athlete exploding onto the scene like this again in any sport. Yet Sharma is all but unknown outside of the climbing community.
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