00:04In about five seconds, Indian national speed climber Dipu Malesh sends it with a near-perfect
00:10ascent. In a country mad about cricket, climbing is gaining a foothold.
00:15I always try to do my hundred percent and it's like me at least motivating my younger generation
00:23for them to do something big. If I'm able to do something there and it's a motivation for them
00:31to like, they can achieve much bigger than what I've done. He's not alone. Young people across
00:36India are embracing the sport with some now setting their sights on the Olympics.
00:43Right now, my main goal as an athlete is to perform well at the world level, like reaching
00:47the Olympics and all, and to take India forward and represent it well in some way.
00:51But in India, finding the funds needed to ascend the ranks is often the gnarlier challenge.
00:57The sport is still new here and lacks government support. Still, climbing enthusiasts say a bit
01:02of investment, access to training space and more climbing gyms is all that's needed for
01:07the country's athletes to climb to new heights. I think important for the government, state government
01:12especially, of different states to be able to give real estate, the land in the stadiums, in municipal
01:23corporations for people who want to put up gyms. And that will be the game changer.
01:29Officials say formal recognition and more climbing gym access could unlock funding, infrastructure and
01:35sponsorship opportunities. The next 10 years is going to be fantastic for climbing, even in terms
01:42of athletes, because we're coming up with a lot of competition, not only at the Asian level,
01:48but also at our national and domestic level, like the leagues and all will pop up.
01:54With government support lacking, the private sector is taking over. Pro climbers across the country are
02:00teaching on the side and setting up their own gyms. We've introduced 4,000 people to climbing,
02:05which are 4,000 people who would never have heard of it otherwise. So awareness is the
02:11one biggest thing that commercial climbing gyms are able to lend to. Like 10 more climbing gyms will
02:15mean 500,000 more climbers. Climbing walls are going up fast across India, but the country's climbers
02:21are still finding their own route to the top as they wait for government support to catch up.
02:26Ryan Wu and Bryn Thomas for Taiwan Plus.
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