Obstacle climbing sports are being primed as an explosive new frontier for the Olympic Games, with WA icon Olivia Vivian at the forefront of the push for inclusion.

Vivian, a dual Olympic gymnast, was adamant her new sporting love would add an exciting edge as early as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with a view to making it a stand-alone sport on Australian soil in Brisbane in 2032.

Obstacle climbing sports have loomed as a new leg of the age-old modern pentathlon in LA, with equestrian show jumping seen as the most likely to make way to leave fencing, swimming, laser pistol shooting and running.

But a cloud remains over that event as a whole, with growing sentiment that it is too elitist and not capable of capturing modern viewing expectations.

However, Vivian said she and others in her sport, which is also known as ninja, had been buoyed by the successful inclusions of skateboarding and sport climbing at the most recent Games in Tokyo and believed another new event would continue to boost the Olympic movement.

“This is a very unique opportunity to create history,” said Vivian, who chairs World Obstacle’s Ninja Athlete Advisory Council.

“A part of me loves and will always cherish the traditional Olympic sports, but we’re seeing the Games as a whole going into a refresh and inviting new sports to attract new and younger viewers. The skateboarding in Tokyo was mind-blowing and watching kids out there crushing it was so entertaining.

“The speed and race aspect of sport climbing was also incredible and that’s the aspect we’re pushing when it comes to ninja. You’re not just getting the thrill of watching these athletes speed through a course, but we’re now introducing the side-by-side race aspect to bring that extra element of entertainment.

“Ninja ticks a lot of the boxes and it’s disgustingly entertaining.”

Sports invited by the Los Angeles 2028 committee to present cases for inclusion include motorsport, cricket, karate, baseball-softball, lacrosse, breaking (or breakdancing), kickboxing, squash and flag football.

Vivian said she had joined the push for obstacle climbing sports to be a new inclusion at the Olympic Games soon after she won the inaugural Ninja World Championships in Moscow in 2019. There have since been Olympic test events in Turkey and the Philippines, with another scheduled in the United States for October.

She believed the accessibility of obstacle climbing sports, which has millions of participants worldwide, also gave it immense room for growth.

“We’re seeing it pop up in so many local parks and it’s so easy for people to get involved and give it a go,” she said. “It’s cheap to train, easy to pick up and Joe Blow off the street can give it a go.”

On September 15 in New Jersey, Vivian will also try to set the world record for the longest lache completion by a woman. She is already in the Guinness Book of World Records for swinging 64 metres across monkey bars in one minute.

“I’m a giant child, I refuse to grow up,” she said. “I’m a real-life Peter Pan.”