Sport Climbing at the Olympics

Three disciplines

Competition climbing has three disciplines. Lead climbing means climbing as high as possible on a tall roped wall within a time limit. Bouldering means solving short, hard problems without ropes. Speed climbing is a race up an identical standard wall. Each demands different strengths, which made the Tokyo combined format controversial.

Tokyo 2020

Sport climbing debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, with a single combined medal for each of men and women, multiplying rankings across speed, bouldering and lead. Slovenia's Janja Garnbret won the women's gold and Spain's Alberto Gines Lopez the men's, the first Olympic climbing champions.

Paris 2024

For Paris 2024, speed climbing became its own medal event, while boulder and lead were combined. Garnbret won again, becoming the first two-time Olympic champion in the sport, and Britain's Toby Roberts won the men's boulder and lead gold. Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw won women's speed after setting a world record during the Games, and Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo won men's speed, his country's first gold outside badminton.

How to watch

The IFSC runs World Cups for boulder, lead and speed each season, streamed online, plus World Championships. Watching lead finals, notice how climbers rest on good holds and read the route, because they only see it during a short preview. In boulder rounds, watch how athletes study a problem before their first attempt.

Did you know?

Olympic lead routes are set fresh for each competition so nobody can practise them, and climbers watch others' attempts only from isolation if they have not yet climbed. Bouldering rounds score tops and zones, while lead scoring counts how far up the wall each climber gets, with points for each hold. The sport's arrival at the Olympics brought a wave of new climbing gyms worldwide, especially in cities with no natural rock nearby.

From gym to Games

Many Olympic climbers started at local climbing gyms as children and joined youth teams. If you are curious, most climbing gyms run youth and adult courses that teach technique and safety step by step.

Professionals, don't try this: these athletes train for years with coaches, safety systems and spotters. Start at a supervised gym or club and progress slowly.

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