Talking Speed, Training, and Decompressing with Team USA’s Zach Hammer
Zach Hammer, an Olympic speed climber for Team USA, is one of the youngest competitors on the Sport Climbing team. He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, attending Skyline High School and training at Planet Rock Climbing Gym in Madison Heights. Climbing sat down with Zach before he set off to Paris for his Olympic debut to talk Speed, training, and how he decompresses.
Zach Hammer’s Competition Record
- Qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Men’s Speed)
- Holds the Male Youth A American Speed Record: 5.12
- 2023 YETI National Championships: 5th (Men’s Speed)
- 2023 IFSC World Cup Wujiang: 11th (Men’s Speed)
- 2023 IFSC World Championships Bern: 16th (Men’s Speed)
- 2023 Youth National Championships: 3rd (Male Youth A, Speed)
The Interview
Climbing: How did you get started climbing?
Hammer: I started climbing at age three. I have two older siblings and two parents—who all started climbing at the same time. My brother, who is 6 years older than me, first saw a climbing gym when practicing gymnastics across the street. So he went over to try it. He loved it.
The whole family fell into it. It was a pretty fast progression from no one in our family knowing what climbing was to all being diehard climbers. But, for me, I was three. I basically started climbing before I could even walk very well. After a few years I joined a team doing small competitions for fun. By the time I was 14 and 15, which was during and after the pandemic, I started taking competitions more seriously.
Climbing: I know there is another Planet Rock Climbing Gym in Ann Arbor, why drive an hour to the Madison Heights location?
Hammer: While there is a Planet Rock gym in Ann Arbor, it does not have a speed wall. My brother, at the time, was one of the best speed climbers in the country, and so going to Madison Heights was very important for us.
I was still pretty young then, but I would try the speed wall and take, like, a whole minute. As I got older, trying the speed wall became kind of a routine. But the commute itself wasn’t that easy—an hour drive basically every day to the climbing gym after highschool.
Then I would train for three to four hours, drive home, go to bed, and do that day after day. I’m definitely grateful to be where I am now, in Salt Lake, where I have a 10-minute drive to the gym and a walk to school. It’s definitely a change.
Climbing: Why did you decide to get into speed climbing specifically?
Hammer: For competition climbing, when you’re 12 and under, if you’re competing in Speed, you compete on a random jug haul—instead of the standardized speed route—that is also only eight meters tall. So, though it’s technically speed climbing, it’s a very different kind of competition. At that same time, my brother Max was doing the big-person speed wall, so I was psyched to do it as soon as I could.
I’ve always been a pretty dynamic climber and a jumpy, powerful, explosive climber. My technique as a young kid was terrible, but I could jump. That lent itself very well to speed climbing, and I won nationals in speed as a C division climber.
Climbing: In Tokyo, speed climbing, lead climbing, and bouldering were all together in one event. Are you glad they separated speed climbing for Paris?
Hammer: Honestly, the whole climbing community hated that all three disciplines were grouped together. But that’s how sports work when they are new to the Olympics. The bouldering and lead climbers weren’t able to show their best, the speed climbers weren’t able to show their best. It was a lose-lose for everybody. This year the IOC gave us two medals total. Obviously, that’s still not perfect. We want them all to be separate, but it definitely is a lot better.
For speed climbers, it means we get to finally show what we’re capable of.
Climbing: What does your current training regimen look like?
Hammer: I train four to five days a week. On the days that I train, I’m at the gym for about six hours. I wake up, eat breakfast, then go to the gym. I warm up, which takes like an hour, then climb for up to two and a half hours. Then I have a bit of rest and eat lunch, and then a lifting session in the evening.
On my rest days, I’m usually at the gym for like an hour, and I do some stretching and mobility training. I’m at a climbing gym every day, but I’m not necessarily climbing every day.
Climbing: Was there a single moment where you realized you wanted to really commit to speed climbing?
Hammer: The biggest moment in my career so far was the World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, last summer. At that point, I had never made the finals in an IFSC competition. But if I wanted to qualify for OQS [the Olympic Qualifying Series] I needed to pop off at the World Championships. And I ran a competition personal best, which put me in finals for the first time. So, basically, the exact moment that I had to perform, I performed.
Climbing: What are your hobbies outside of climbing? What do you do to decompress?
Hammer: I decompress mainly by watching TV and playing video games, but my hobby outside of climbing is slacklining and frisbee. I haven’t been doing as much of those things because I don’t want to get hurt for climbing, but those are definitely some of my favorites.
Climbing: Any shout-outs to your biggest supporters over the years?
Hammer: The shout outs mostly go to family and coaches. My parents and siblings have been super supportive. I could not have done this without them at all. Then coaches, Becca Saag, who’s the head coach at Planet Rock, Madison Heights. She was unbelievably vital to my growth as a climber and a person. She’s a phenomenal coach and she’s doing a great job with the athletes now.
Then also my current coaches, Albert Ok and Matt Maddison, who are based here in Salt Lake. They’re helping me realize my potential.
This interview was lightly edited for length.
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