Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls. The three competition climbing disciplines are lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing. The result of multiple disciplines can be used in a "combined" format to determine an all-round winner. Competition climbing is sometimes called "sport climbing", which is the name given to pre-bolted lead climbing.
Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers.
The IFSC Climbing World Championships are the biennial world championship event for competition climbing that is organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). This event determines the male and female world champions in the three disciplines of competition climbing: competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing. Since 2012, a combined ranking is also determined, for climbers competing in all disciplines, and additional medals are awarded based on that ranking. The first event was organized in Frankfurt in 1991.
USA Climbing is the national governing body of the sport of competition climbing in the United States. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, they promote Sport Climbing which comprises three competition disciplines: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing, in elite, youth and collegiate formats.
The IFSC Climbing World Cup is a series of competition climbing events held during the year at various locations around the world, organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). At each event, the athletes compete in three disciplines: lead, bouldering, and speed. The number of events varies from year to year, and the winners for each discipline are decided by the points accumulated in the year.
Competition climbing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Two events were held, one each for men and women. The format controversially consisted of one combined event with three disciplines: lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering. The medals were determined based on best performance across all three disciplines. This format was previously tested at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. The Olympic code for sports climbing is CLB.
Tomoa Narasaki is a Japanese professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering and competition bouldering.
Competition climbing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. It is governed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).
The 2017 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held in 15 locations. Bouldering competitions were held in 7 locations, lead in 8 locations, and speed in 7 locations. The season began on 7 April in Meiringen, Switzerland and concluded on 12 November in Kranj, Slovenia.
The 2018 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held in 14 locations. There were 22 events: 7 bouldering, 7 lead, and 8 speed events. The season began on 13 April in Meiringen, Switzerland, and concluded on 28 October in Xiamen, China.
The 2016 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held in 16 locations. Bouldering, lead and speed competitions were held in 7 locations. The season began on 15 April in Meiringen, Switzerland and concluded on 27 November in Kranj, Slovenia.
The 2015 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held in 13 locations. Bouldering competitions were held in 5 locations, lead in 7 locations, and speed in 5 locations. The season began on 17 May in Central Saanich, Canada and concluded on 15 November in Kranj, Slovenia.
The 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships, the 16th edition, were held in Hachioji, Japan from 11 to 21 August 2019. The championships consisted of lead, speed, bouldering, and combined events. The paraclimbing event was held separately from 16 to 17 July in Briançon, France. The combined event also served as an Olympic qualifying event for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Aleksandra Mirosław is a Polish competition speed climber and a two-time women's speed world champion as well as the current women's competition speed climbing world record holder.
Petra Klingler is a Swiss competition rock climber. Known as a versatile climber, she competes in bouldering and speed, lead, and ice climbing. It is historically rare for a climber to compete in so many different disciplines, especially ice climbing, although the combined format of the Tokyo Olympics has made it more common. Klingler was encouraged by her former coach to try ice climbing for fun, and as a way to build mental discipline.
Ai Mori is a Japanese professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing and the disciplines of competition lead climbing and competition bouldering. At the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships, she became the youngest Japanese athlete to finish in a podium place in the competition, third in lead. She has won Japan Cup titles in both bouldering and lead disciplines and has multiple IFSC Climbing World Cup podium finishes, including three gold medals in World Cup events in the 2022 season. At the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships, Mori won the gold medal in lead, becoming the first Japanese athlete to win a World Championships lead title.
The 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships was the 17th edition of the competition climbing event. It was held in Moscow, Russia from 16 to 21 September 2021, alongside the 2021 IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships.
Lead climbing competitions at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup were held at five locations, from 23 June to 4 September 2021. The International Federation of Sport Climbing had initially scheduled six lead climbing events concluding on 17 October, but COVID-19 travel restrictions resulted in the cancellation of event in Xiamen, China.
Speed climbing competitions at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup are being held at two locations, from 28 May to 3 July 2021. The International Federation of Sport Climbing had originally scheduled six speed climbing events concluding on 31 October, but COVID-19 travel restrictions resulted in the cancellation of events in Xiamen and Wujiang in China, Jakarta in Indonesia and Seoul in South Korea.
Competition climbing at the 2024 Summer Olympics is scheduled to run from 5 to 10 August at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Saint-Denis, returning to the program for the second time since the sport's official debut three years earlier in Tokyo 2020. The total number of medal events will double from two in the previous edition, separating the boulder-and-lead tandem from the speed format. Furthermore, Paris 2024 will witness a significant rise in the number of sport climbers competing contrary to Tokyo 2020, expanding the roster size from 40 to 68.
Bern, Switzerland
