About Sport Climbing
At the Olympics, sport climbing involves three formats : bouldering, speed and lead. In bouldering, athletes climb 4.5 m high walls without ropes, in a limited period of time and in the fewest attempts possible. Speed is a spectacular race against the clock in one-on-one elimination rounds that combine precision and explosivity.
The best athletes scale a 15m high and five degrees inclinated wall in under six seconds for men and under seven seconds for women.
In the lead event, athletes climb as high as they can on a wall over 15m high in six minutes without having seen the route ahead of time. The routes for this event are more and more complex and challenging during the event, requiring all of the athletes’ physical and mental ability.
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.
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.
sports
NZ Fast facts
Olympic Games
- No. of athletes
- 2
- No. of games
- 1
- First appearance
- 2024
