US Olympic climber Jesse Grupper chasing gold after quitting job

After winning gold at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in 2023, climber Jesse Grupper is continuing to chase his dreams at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Grupper represents Team USA in sport climbing, which has been separated at Paris into two events (speed; boulder and lead) after making its debut as a single event in Tokyo. Grupper is currently the top-ranked U.S. men’s lead climber and third-ranked in boulder and lead.

Two years ago, Grupper quit his full-time job to pursue his Olympic dreams. “There's definitely been a lot of sacrifice and it's been a lot of hard work to get here, but I'm super excited about it,” Grupper said.

Grupper is one of eight sport climbers on Team USA who will compete in Paris. Of the eight, six athletes will be making their debut this summer, including Grupper. Only Colin Duffy and Brooke Raboutou competed at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US climbing team has six Olympic rookies