Team GB have sent a team of six athletes to the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan as they begin their qualification for the sport's first ever appearance at the Olympic Games next year.

Shauna Coxsey is Britain's big hope for glory in the bouldering discipline as she has won gold twice at the World Cup and medalled on three more occasions.

Molly Thompson-Smith also enters the championships - which are being held in Hachioji - with a comeback story that would be truly remarkable if it ends with an Olympic medal.

The 20-year-old suffered a horrific injury when she sliced her finger open in December 2017 and it seemed as if she would not recover in time to bid for a place in Tokyo.

But she began climbing with one hand just 20 days later and by the end of 2018 was British champion, a semi-finalist at the worlds, and in the top 30 in the rankings.

And the third and final woman hopeful of qualifying for the Games next summer is 19-year-old Jo Neame, who despite being a teenager has been climbing for a decade.

Meanwhile, the men's squad consists of Will Bosi, Nathan Phillips and Billy Ridal.

The world championships runs until August 21 as we enter the final 12 months of preparation before the Olympics.