Sport Climbing: Olympic history, rules, latest updates and upcoming events for the Olympic sport (2024)

What is Sport Climbing?

Sport Climbing is a modern discipline originated from traditional rock climbing. There are three different disciplines: boulder, lead and speed. In all of them, anchors fixed to an artificial wall are used for climbing.

By whom, where and when was Sport Climbing invented?

It’s believed that climbing in natural rocks as a recreational activity started at the end of the 19th century. Climbing as a competitive sport started in 1985 in Bardonecchia near Turin, Italy in an event called “SportRoccia”. One year later, the first competition event on an artificial climbing wall was organised in Vaulx-en-Velin near Lyon, France.

In the early 1990s, it was decreed that international events would take place on purposely designed infrastructures only, leaving the natural environment without impact. One of the sport’s core values is the preservation of the environment, with climbers bearing responsibility for the upkeep of the settings in which they climb.

A new era of modern sport climbing started and the first World Championships was organised in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1991.

It has become highly popular over the past two decades. The development of climbing walls has contributed to sport climbing’s popularity, making it accessible to all.

What are the rules of Sport Climbing?

There are different rules for each discipline of sport climbing:

In bouldering, athletes climb 4.5 m high walls without ropes, in a limited period of time and in the fewest attempts possible. The ranking is decided by the number of problems overcome.

In the lead event, athletes climb with a rope as high as they can on a wall over 15m high in six minutes without having seen the route ahead of time. It requires all of the athletes’ physical and mental abilities.

Speed is a spectacular race against the clock in one-on-one elimination rounds that combine precision and explosivity. The wall is 15m high and with an inclination of five degrees. The World Record for men is 5.00 seconds for men (Kiromal Katibin, Indonesia) and 6.53 for women (Aleksandra Miroslaw, Poland).

Sport Climbing and the Olympics

Sport climbing took its first steps on the Olympic stage at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games in 2018 and made its official Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. Sport climbing will be in Paris 2024 with a different format: there will be two sets of medals per gender. Instead of competing in a single event that combines boulder, lead and speed, athletes will battle for glory in two events: speed; and boulder and lead combined - with a gold medal on offer in each event.

Best Sport Climbers to watch

Janja Garnbret of Slovenia and Alberto Ginés of Spain, were crowned at Tokyo 2020 as the first Olympic champions in sport climbing history. Their goal is to qualify for Paris 2024 and make history again.

In the women’s side, some of the best names in the combined discipline are: Brooke Raboutou (USA), Akiyo Noguchi (Japan), Fanny Gibert (France) and Chaehyun Seo (Korea)

Speed climbing will have its own set of medals at Paris 2024. It’s considered the fastest sport at the Olympics. Indonesia’s Kiromal Katibin is the world record holder: he can climb the 15-metre wall in 5.00 seconds. His teammate Veddriq Leonardo is another one to watch: his personal best is 5.20 seconds.

In the women’s side, Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw is another speed specialist. She competed at Tokyo 2020 finishing 4th overall, breaking the world record in 6.84 seconds. She cut it down to 6.53 at the IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City in May 2022.

Sport Climbing Competition Rules at Paris 2024

Compared to the 40 athletes competing at Tokyo 2020, there will be 68 athletes in Paris: 28 for speed and 40 for the boulder-and-lead combined.

In Tokyo, each athlete competed in all three disciplines and the final scores reflected the combined results of the three competitions. The climber with the lowest score took home the first Olympic gold medal in the history of sport climbing.

In Paris 2024, two competitions will crown their own Olympic champion in sport climbing. One will be a combined competition of bouldering and lead events, and the second one will only feature a speed event.

The competitions are scheduled from 5 to 10 August at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Saint Denis.