Winning With Stargardt Disease: Visually Impaired Paraclimber Abbie Robinson Is Golden!

Abbie (Abigail) Robinson is a 23-year-old climber and world Champion who didn’t let her eye disease get in the way of her reaching the top, literally: she won gold at the 2021 IFSC Para-climbing World Championships in Moscow. Want to see how she did that?

How It All Started 

Growing up in Sunderland ,England, Abbie loved all outdoor and adventurous activities, whether it was climbing, hiking, wild swimming, mountain biking, surfing, or camping. Till today, Abbie’s favorite thing has been being outdoors in nature and spending time with her loved ones

In school, Abbie was an intelligent kid, however, she struggled when it came to reading and never understood why. She found exams challenging and wasn’t performing as well as expected. This resulted in a substantial loss of self-confidence, leaving her to feel a real loss of identity as well. After years of searching for an explanation, being diagnosed with Stargardt Macular Dystrophy Disease at 17 was a huge relief. Abbie finally understood why some tasks felt so challenging and could now access the support she needed. This also brought an understanding of why she struggled in social situations, struggling to recognize faces and pick people out of large crowds, as her condition affects the central vision (responsible for perceiving color and fine detail). 

Finding Her Passion, Losing Her Sight. 

Abbie’s first time climbing didn’t go as planned. However, she finally gave it another chance when she was 13 and became completely obsessed. She found the local climbing wall, became an instructor there, and started coaching at a different gym when she moved away to university, only to become a full-time coach shortly after graduating. 

Alongside her achievements, it was also the time when Abbie started to notice her vision loss due to her eye disease was getting in the way of her climbing: seeing the holds was getting extremely tough.

Yet, there was a silver lining: a friend introduced her to the world of Para-climbing and when she turned up to a national competition to see what it was all about, she ended up being invited to join the GB Paraclimbing Team!

Seeing the Silver Lining

All the hard work, stress, heights, and even her low vision, couldn’t stop Abbie from going all the way up! Abbie began competing internationally in 2018, winning gold at her first World Cup in Briancon, France, and securing the title of World Champion for B2 women a couple of months later in Innsbruck. She retained this title at the 2019 and 2021 World Championships in Briancon and Moscow.

Though she considers herself to be incredibly stubborn and independent, Abbie is much more aware of her limitations and knows when to ask for help. Thanks to the support of assistive devices such as the Orcam Read, she can access text including the fine print which allows her to maintain her independence and carry on with daily life much more comfortably. 

‘For anyone with a disability, taking part in sport can be intimidating’, says Abbie. She didn’t thrive at sports in school as there wasn’t a space for kids with visual impairments or other disabilities. However, today there are more and more accessible spaces that make sport more inclusive so that everyone can participate. 

Today Abbie raises global awareness for Paraclimbing as well as inspires others with disabilities to break through stigmas and barriers.