Sport climbing at the Summer Olympics
IOC Discipline CodeCLB
Events4 (men: 2; women: 2)
Games
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Competition climbing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It is governed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).

Bid for inclusion

The inclusion was proposed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) in 2015.[1] In September 2015, competition climbing was included in a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, and karate to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics;[2] and in June 2016, the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they would support the proposal to include all of the shortlisted sports in the 2020 Games.[3] Finally, on August 3, 2016, all five sports (counting baseball and softball together as one sport) were approved for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic program.[4]

Competition format

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, two climbing events were contested: men's combined and women's combined. The competition format combined three disciplines of competition climbing: speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. This decision caused widespread criticism in the climbing community.[5]

Members of the IFSC explained that they were only granted one gold medal per gender by the Olympic committee, and they did not want to exclude speed climbing. The IFSC's goal for the 2020 Olympics was primarily to establish climbing and its three disciplines as Olympic sports; changes to the format could follow later. This tactic proved to be successful as they were granted a second set of medals for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where speed climbing will be a separate event from the combined event of lead climbing and bouldering.[6][7][8]

Summary

Games Year Events Best Nation
2020 2020 2  Spain/ Slovenia
2024 2024 4

Events

Current program
Event 2020 2024 Years
Men's combined X X 2
Men's speed X 1
Women's combined X X 2
Women's speed X 1
Events 2 4

Participating nations

The following nations have taken part in the Olympic climbing competition. The numbers in the table indicate the number of competitors sent to that year's Olympics.

Nation 2020 2024 Years
 Australia 2
 Austria 2
 Canada 2
 China 2
 Czech Republic 1
 France 4
 Germany 2
 Great Britain 1
 Italy 3
 Japan 4
 Kazakhstan 1
 Poland 1
 ROC 3
 Slovenia 2
 South Africa 2
 South Korea 2
 Spain 1
 Switzerland 1
 United States 4
Nations 19
Climbers 40
Year 2020 2024

Olympic records history

Event Round Climber Nation Time Games Date Record
Men's combined (speed) Qualification Bassa Mawem  France 5.45 2020 Tokyo 3 August 2021 OR[9]
Women's combined (speed) Qualification Aleksandra Mirosław  Poland 6.97 2020 Tokyo 4 August 2021 OR[10]
Final Aleksandra Mirosław  Poland 6.84 2020 Tokyo 6 August 2021 WR[11]

Medal table

As of the 2020 Olympics[12]
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Slovenia (SLO)1001
 Spain (ESP)1001
3 Japan (JPN)0112
4 United States (USA)0101
5 Austria (AUT)0011
Totals (5 entries)2226

Medalists

Men's combined

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2020 Tokyo
details 		Alberto Ginés López
 Spain 		Nathaniel Coleman
 United States 		Jakob Schubert
 Austria
2024 Paris
details

Speed

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2024 Paris
details

Women's combined

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2020 Tokyo
details 		Janja Garnbret
 Slovenia 		Miho Nonaka
 Japan 		Akiyo Noguchi
 Japan
2024 Paris
details

Women’s speed

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2024 Paris
details

See also

References

  1. ^ "IFSC Proposes Sport Climbing For Toyko 2020 Olympic Games". The British Mountaineering Council. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
  2. ^ "Surfing and skateboarding make shortlist for 2020 Olympics". GrindTV.com. September 28, 2015. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  3. ^ "IOC Executive Board supports Tokyo 2020 package of new sports for IOC Session - Olympic News". Olympic.org. June 1, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  4. ^ "IOC approves five new sports for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020". Olympics.org. International Olympic Committee. August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  5. ^ "Rock climbing will be a 2020 Olympic sport. Here's what to expect". National Geographic. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
  6. ^ "Rock climbing will be a 2020 Olympic sport. Here's what to expect". National Geographic. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
  7. ^ "Vertical Triathlon: The Future of Climbing in the Olympics". climbing.com. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
  8. ^ "Olympic Committee Unanimously Votes to Include Sport Climbing in Paris 2024 Games". climbing.com. 25 June 2019. Archived from the original on Jul 4, 2019.
  9. ^ "Sport Climbing – Men's Combined – Speed Qualification Results" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Sport Climbing – Women's Combined – Speed Qualification Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  11. ^ "Sport Climbing – Women's Combined – Speed Final Brackets" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  12. ^ "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.

External links

Sport climbing at the Summer Olympics
Sports at the Olympic Games
Climbing competitions
Categories