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.
Shauna Coxsey is an English professional rock climber. She is the most successful competition climber in the UK, having won the IFSC Bouldering World Cup Season in both 2016 and 2017. She retired from competition after competing in the 2020 Olympics., and continues to climb at a high level outdoors.
Alexander Megos is a German rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering and competition climbing. In 2013, he became the first-ever climber to onsight a 9a (5.14d) graded route. He has made the first free ascent (FFA) of some of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world, including two 9b+ (5.15c) routes, four 9b (5.15b) routes, and several boulders with a boulder 8C (V15) rating.
Akiyo Noguchi is a Japanese professional rock climber who specializes in competition bouldering as well as outdoor bouldering and sport climbing.
The Great Britain paraclimbing team represents Great Britain in paraclimbing. They are administered by British Mountaineering Council, and currently sponsored by the Oakwood Climbing Centre and Quay Climbing Centre. In 2018 the team had their best season ever coming 2nd in the IFSC Climbing World Championships Paraclimbing medal table with 3 World Champions gaining Gold, a Silver and a Bronze medal.
The IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships are the biennial world championships for competition climbing for people with disabilities organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). This event determines the male and female world champions in various categories.
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.
The 2020 IFSC Climbing World Cup was the 32nd edition of the World Cup held by the International Federation of Sport Climbing. It was scheduled to be held in 12 locations across three climbing disciplines, bouldering, lead and speed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic concerns, only one event was held, the Lead World Cup at Briançon in August, while all other World Cups were canceled.
The 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup was the 33rd edition of the international sport climbing competition series, held in seven locations. There are 11 events: four bouldering, five lead, and two speed events. The season began on 16 April in Meiringen, Switzerland with the first bouldering competition in the season, and concluded on 4 September in Kranj, Slovenia. The International Federation of Sport Climbing had initially scheduled 18 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.
Melinda Vigh was a Hungarian climber. A forearm amputee, she competed in the disability group AU2.
Competition lead climbing at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held over six stages at six different locations, from 4 July to 27 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. Adam Ondra won the men's seasonal title, Chaehyun Seo won the women's seasonal title, and Japan won the national team title.
Competition lead climbing at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held at five locations, from 23 June to 4 September 2021. The International Federation of Sport Climbing had initially scheduled six competition-lead climbing events concluding on 17 October, but COVID-19 travel restrictions resulted in the cancellation of the event in Xiamen, China.
Linda Le Bon is a para-athlete. She competes for Austria in paraclimbing and previously competed for her native country Belgium in para-alpine skiing. She competes in the B2 category, which is for visually impaired athletes. She has a vision impairment as a result of macular degeneration.
Maureen Beck is an American mountaineer, and a specialist in adaptive climbing. Born without a lower left arm, she has won six national titles, and won a gold medal at the 2014 Spanish Paraclimbing World Championships.
Louis Parkinson, also known as Captain Cutloose, is a British professional rock climber, climbing coach, and YouTube content creator. In 2015, at the age of 20, he was selected for the GB Climbing Team, and competed in the 2015 IFSC Climbing World Cup.
Anoushé Husain is a British paraclimber and civil servant.
Kate Sawford is a Canadian para sport climber.
