Oceania Mackenzie

From an early age Oceania Mackenzie was a regular at her local climbing gym. Her mother, Ellen, an avid recreational climber, would often bring Oceania and her sisters along to the gym where they could play on the smaller walls and develop their skills.  

Once old enough to join the local squad, it only took six months before Oceania was entering her first competitions.

She is now Australia’s top-ranked female sport climber across all disciplines – lead, speed and bouldering – and was the first woman to represent Australia in sport climbing’s debut at the Tokyo Olympics.

Having grown up surrounded by sport climbing, Oceania has always had a deep appreciation for the sport. However, it is her love of competing against the wall that keeps her striving for more.

As a 15-year-old, Oceania was granted wildcard entries into senior events and would often beat other competitors who were much older. She went on to compete at her first World Cup event in Hachioji, Japan, and made the semi-finals for the Bouldering and Lead disciplines.

A year later, she was awarded an International Olympic Scholarship, which aims to assist athletes to get to the Olympic Games. In particular, the scholarship aims to relieve some of the financial burdens for athletes in sports that aren’t well funded, in turn, helping them to qualify for the Games.

Oceania cemented her place in the world of sports climbing at the 2019 Bouldering World Cup in Switzerland, where she placed sixth, a result she considers to be a career highlight. Only one other Australian female in history has achieved a final result in the sport, and she joins only a handful of males who have done the same.

After the postponement of Tokyo 2020 and during the first COVID-19 lockdown, Oceania spent time training on a climbing wall that her family built in their garage. This enabled her to continue practising, even when local gyms and facilities had to close temporarily due to restrictions.

In December 2020, Oceania won the IFSC Oceania Championships and secured her spot on the Tokyo 2020 Team. 

The Victorian athlete made her Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, competing in speed, bouldering and lead. She would first achieve a speed time of 8.83 in the first phase of the qualifying process, placing her in the 13th overall position.

After completing in the second and final bouldering and lead stages of the competition. Oceania would unfortunately fail to qualify for the finals of the event, ending the stage in 19th overall. 

In 2023, after a demanding World Cup bouldering series taking in events at Hachioji, Seoul, Salt Lake City, Prague, Brixen in Italy and Austris’s Innsbruck, Oceania was ranked seventh in the world. "Honestly it feels amazing to be 7th in the world for boulder this year, but mostly I'm just proud of the progress and confidence I've gained,” she said.

Oceania's best performance was in Brixen, where she qualified for finals to finish fifth.

Oceania is confident her technique is constantly improving as she builds towards Paris.

"I learnt new things after every event, so before every comp I change something slightly,” she said.

When not competing and training, she enjoys baking and training young climbers.