Mount Maunganui’s Caitlyn Fortescue is fulfilling a lifelong dream of being on the world stage.

Growing up, the 15-year-old was addicted to Ninja Warrior – a competitive sport and television show where athletes tackle challenging obstacle courses.

Now she has been selected to represent New Zealand at the World Obstacle Course Racing Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden on September 11-14.

Fortescue said she would be competing in the 100m sprint and 3km events. The 100m sprint course has 11 standardised obstacles on a two-lane, 100m linear course.

She said the 2025 format was new and included quintuple steps, monkey bars, a 1.5m wall, balance beam, spinning wheels, rings, cargo net, climbing holds, 5m rope swing and a warped wall.

“The aim is to complete [the course] as fast as possible. The world records are typically between 20 to 30 seconds. It’s fast, risky and a lot of fun.”

Caitlyn Fortescue on her training obstacle course at home. Photo / Brydie Thompson.

This opportunity was incredibly special to her, and she was determined to chase big goals alongside the 2025 New Zealand obstacle team.

“OCR is now an Olympic sport, with an 80m ninja-style course forming part of the modern pentathlon, along with running, fencing, swimming and laser pistol shooting,” she said.

Fortescue said she was very keen on sports and has won and placed in many national climbing events in the last eight years, including winning her division in rock climbing at the Aims Games – in boulder, top rope and speed.

She won a gold medal in her age group at this year’s Speed Climbing National Championships, where she was selected to represent New Zealand in the Youth World Championships in Finland. She placed fourth in the national bouldering competition for her age group last year.

Fortescue had an intense training routine that involved working part-time at climbing gym Rocktopia, and CrossFit at Mount Crossfit three times a week. She also played netball and recently started attending the Tauranga 5km park runs to build her conditioning for longer runs.

This opportunity is very special for Fortescue and she is determined to chase big goals alongside her New Zealand obstacle course racing teammates. Photo / Brydie Thompson

All of this added up to 5-6 hours of training in the climbing gym, 3-4 hours of running, three hours of obstacle training, three hours of CrossFit and two hours of netball – and still she begged her parents to let her do more sports.

In support of her passion for the sport, Fortescue’s parents built a training course in their home garden equipped with rings and monkey bars and it will soon have a set of quintuple steps, spinning wheels, a jumping wall and more.

Fortescue was self-funded and needed to raise money to get to Sweden and achieve her dream of competing on the world stage.

“I am aiming to raise about $2500 to help cover some of these costs,” she said. “I will be very proud to compete on the world stage wearing the silver fern.”

Fortescue created a Givealittle page at: givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-caitlyn-get-to-the-2025-world-ocr-champs

Donations would be used to cover flights, competition fees and accommodation in Sweden.

To follow Fortescue’s journey, visit her Instagram @caitlyn_ocrsprint.