Nathaniel COLEMAN

For Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nathaniel Coleman, being a professional climber is his dream career.

Utah-native Coleman was the first ever American man to qualify for the Olympics in sport climbing at the Toulouse qualifiers in 2019.

As a young boy, Coleman tried his hand at just about every sport he could do, from football to soccer, and even 4 square. It wasn’t until he was nine years old that he stumbled upon climbing and, by the time he was 11, all other sports had faded away and he was entirely focused on it.

His ability has been glaring ever since he was younger, namely when he placed fourth at the Youth Bouldering Nationals when he was just 14 – and he has gone from strength to strength ever since. He won group age events USA Climbing Youth Bouldering nationals between 2012 and 2016.

After attending university for a year, Coleman made the decision to drop out and pursue climbing full-time.

He’s was just 24 years old going into Tokyo but has been known as ‘The Captain’ to his fellow teammates with the nickname catching on back in 2015, according to Gym Climber.