11 year-old Filipina sport climber hopes to get an Olympic gold in the future

The future is bright for Philippine sports and making her way to the list of young exemplary athletes is the 11-year old sport climber Praj dela Cruz.

Praj, whose parents are also climbers, had been making her name known in competitions and is currently preparing for the Asian Youth Cup in India.

Since she was young, Praj was full of energy and tried on different sports.

"Ever since I was young, my parents noticed that I was this happy, joyful kid who just wanted to wander out and explore," Praj said in Chino Trinidad's 24 Oras report on Wednesday.

Eventually, Praj loved sport climbing just like her encouraging parents.

"Sa Pilipinas kasi, 'pag umaakyat 'yung mga bata, 'yung mga matatanda parang 'Uy mahuhulog,' Pinagbabawalan agad. Dahil pareho kaming climber ng wife ko, hinahayaan namin siya pero spot lang kami sa likod," Praj's dad Bidz said.

(In the Philippines, when children climb, the adults say 'They might fall'. They don't allow it. But me and my wife are both climbers so we just let her climb and we spot from behind.)

Now that she has been gaining recognition in her sport, Praj aims to reach the pinnacle for any athlete.

"I have [the] Olympics on my mind because I feel like I can accomplish it and it's just like only a few more years," said Praj, who is a member of the national team. "I think that if I train hard enough, I could reach that goal of getting gold in the Olympics."

"I think that would be life changing for me."

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News