Alberto
Gines López
Spain
·
Climbing
Date of birth | October 23, 2002 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | Cáceres |
Age | 23 |
Nationality | Spain |
Career start | 2017 |
Disciplines | Climbing Lead / Climbing Speed / Climbing Combined |
Alberto Ginés López began climbing at a young age alongside his elder sister when their parents took them to a local rock gym.
"My sister and I started climbing more at the weekends instead of going to the beach. The entire life of my family started to revolve around climbing, it all evolved very naturally."
Alberto showed enough aptitude for the discipline that his parents introduced him to climbing coach David Macià when he was just 10 years old.
Macià was impressed enough with the youngster to become his coach, and a few years later, in 2016, Alberto made the move to Barcelona from Cáceres to train, with the ultimate goal being to represent Spain in the world's biggest sporting event in Tokyo.
"David taught me to climb well, to train, to manage competitions."
His parents' support has also been instrumental in his progress, with them often making sacrifices for their son to succeed, including driving him hours to places where he could train early on in his career.
"They thought: 'Let’s do it the best possible way so he can climb in the best possible conditions, so he can train well to compete, which is what he likes now. Let’s do every possible thing we can so he can compete.'”
Success at youth level soon followed, with Alberto taking silver at the 2017 IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships (Lead) in category B. That was followed by golds in the same category at the 2017 IFSC Climbing European Youth Championships and in the same competition, but in Youth B, in 2018.
More medals followed in 2019 when Alberto took home bronze medals at the Lead Climbing and Combined Climbing Youth World Championships (Youth A) and in the same category at the European Youth Championships (Lead).
He then moved up to senior level and again success came quickly as he won silver in the IFSC Climbing European Championships (Lead) in Edinburgh, Scotland, just before his 17th birthday.
He backed up that performance with podium finishes in the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Cup in Inzai, Japan and Kranj, Slovenia, which earned him a second-place overall finish in the World Cup behind legend Adam Ondra.
The Spanish climber then announced himself to the world in 2021 as he won gold at the sport climbing event in Tokyo – the first time the event had featured at a Games. In 2022, Alberto took third place twice for the European Championships. That same year, he won Red Bull Dual Ascent alongside Slovenia's Luka Potočar at the Verzasca Dam in Switzerland.
Away from his sport, Alberto plans to study physiotherapy at some point while he's a complete foodie, which isn't an easy passion to have when you have to be slight and skinny for your sport.
"I don’t see myself working for eight hours in a [physiotherapy] clinic, that’s not my thing, but it’s a knowledge I would like to have, which is why I would like to study it."
With impressive results behind him, Alberto looks equipped to set records galore as his climbing career progresses.
Alberto Ginés López spots his next hold
© Stefan Voitl/Red Bull Content Pool
Chilling between sessions at Sputnik rock gym in Madrid
© Sergio Penas/Red Bull Content Pool
Getting to grips with the European Championships
© Phil Pham/Red Bull Content Pool
Alberto Ginés López takes on Jernej Kruder at Red Bull Dual Ascent 2023
© Matteo Mocellin/Red Bull Content Pool