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 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) is the international governing body for the sport of competition climbing, which consists of the disciplines lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing.
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.
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.
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).
Miho Nonaka is a Japanese competition climber who specializes in competition bouldering. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's combined, winning a silver medal.
There were 40 quota spots available for sport climbing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could obtain a maximum of 2 spots in each event. Each event had 20 competitors qualify: 18 from qualifying, 1 from the host (Japan), and 1 from Tripartite Commission invitations.
Aries Susanti Rahayu is a competition climber athlete from Indonesia who specializes in competition speed climbing competitions. She has been nicknamed "Spiderwoman". She was the world record holder for women in speed climbing, which she achieved by clocking a time of 6.995 seconds at the 2019 IFSC Xiamen World Cup. Also, this made her the first woman to climb a speed wall in less than seven seconds.
Speed climbing competitions at the 2017 IFSC Climbing World Cup were being held at seven stops. The winners were awarded trophies, and the best three finishers received medals.
Speed climbing competitions at the 2018 IFSC Climbing World Cup were being held at eight stops. The winners were awarded trophies, and the best three finishers received medals.
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 2019 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held in 12 locations. Bouldering, lead and speed competitions were each held in 6 locations. The season began on 5 April in Meiringen, Switzerland with the first bouldering competition in the season, and concluded on 27 October in Inzai, Japan, with the last lead climbing competition in the season.
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.
The men's combined event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was a climbing competition combining three disciplines. It was held from August 3 to August 5, 2021 at the Aomi Urban Sports Park in Tokyo. A total of 20 athletes from 15 nations competed. Sport climbing was one of four new sports added to the Olympic program for 2020.
The women's combined event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was a climbing competition combining three disciplines. It took place between 4 and 6 August 2021 at the Aomi Urban Sports Park in Tokyo. 20 athletes from 15 nations competed. Sport climbing was one of four new sports added to the Olympic program for 2020.
Competition speed climbing in the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held over six stages at six different locations, from 12 April to 20 October 2019. The top three in each competition received medals, and at the end of the season, the overall winners were awarded trophies. The overall winners were determined based upon points, which athletes were awarded for finishing in the top 30 of each individual event. Bassa Mawem won the men's seasonal title, YiLing Song won the women's seasonal title, and Russian Federation defended its national team title.
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.
