When Molly Thompson-Smith fractured and dislocated her ankle, she thought that her shot at competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics was gone. The North Face athlete has been obsessed with climbing since she was 7 years old. Competing for her native country, the U.K., in the Olympics was a childhood dream for the young climber. But with the injury, she feared it would never happen.
But giving up wasn’t an option. So she started physical therapy, kept her spirits up, stayed optimistic, and started climbing again as soon as she could. She lifted weights, worked through the injury, and found a coach who could help her get back to where she needed to be. She wasn’t sure she was, though, when she competed in the Olympic Qualifiers in Budapest.
She surprised herself, though.
Follow Thomspon-Smith’s journey from hospital bed to the 2024 Paris Games, and watch how she overcomes one of the biggest challenges the 27-year-old climber has ever faced. Life After Plastic tells her story and gives us a taste of where we might see Thompson-Smith headed next.
Runtime: 19:20 minutes
