Different sport climbing disciplines
Nowadays sport climbing is officially divided into 3 different disciplines: Speed, Bouldering, and Lead. Before we jump straight into it, for those who are new to climbing, I wanna make sure we all agree on what each discipline means.
Speed climbing
Evolved from indoor climbing but developed into a more specialised and different direction, it rather looks like a climbing sprint carried out on jugs placed on a vertical indoor wall. As for the Olympic context, two climbers compete against each other in real-time, on a 15 m wall, and the fastest wins.
While it’s a good idea to be a fast climber, watching this world record performance from Sam Watson (USA) will not only give you a better image of what I am talking about but will also bring sense into why Speed has become a separate Olympic discipline.
Bouldering
A form of free climbing performed on small rock formations or artificial walls. It involves climbing shoes but not the use of ropes or harnesses. Mats are used to protect against falls but even so, injuries happen.
Outdoor bouldering has its own grading system that defines the difficulty of each route and when it comes to Indoor bouldering the grade is universally indicated by the colour of either holds or stickers placed at the sit start.
In an Olympic context, each competitor is given four minutes to climb the problem of each boulder, on a 4.5m high wall. However, the number of attempts every climber has and the number of zone holds are usually decisive for the final score.
Lead Climbing
A form of climbing performed on small rock formations or artificial walls that involves climbing shoes, harnesses, and a rope. Moreover, it involves clipping your rope to the climbing protection as you move further toward the top.
Lead climbing involves a more active belaying because, in case of a fall, the belayer needs to be ready to give a good catch. Therefore, trust is mandatory in climbing, even more so in leading.
In an Olympic context, each climber has to climb as high as they can on a steep wall. The aim is to reach the top. The time limit is 6 minutes.
There are many differences to be discussed but mainly lead is more demanding when it comes to sustained effort and sometimes powerful moves, bouldering focuses on explosive and coordination moves and not that much endurance, whereas speed climbing is all about speed and how fast you can get up!
All 3 of them are part of the 2024 Olympics as follows: Bouldering is combined with Lead while Speed climbing is now an independent discipline on its own.
History of Olympic climbing
Very few know that climbing took its baby steps as an Olympic discipline back in 2018 on the Buenos Aires Youth Events stage! Even though the event wasn’t publicised it did impress the audience therefore later on it made its official debut at the Tokyo Games in 2020 when it also joined the Olympic program as a new discipline.
The international event with its initial format Speed, Boulder, and Lead altogether became a milestone in the history of climbing, As you’re going to soon find out, the way the first edition was organised was also part of the determining factor for which the Paris 2024 Olympic Climbing took a whole new format thus separating Speed from the two. But keep on reading as I am soon going to write more on this subject!
Top 3 Women at Tokyo 2020:
- Janja Garnbret (Slovenia)
- Miho Nonaka (Japan)
- Akiyo Noguchi (Japan)
Top 3 Men at Tokyo 2020:
- Alberto Ginés López (Spain)
- Nathaniel Coleman (USA)
- Jackob Schubert (Austria)
Want an idea on what to expect in the Olympic climbing this year? Check out the outstanding performance of Janja Garnbret in Tokyo 2020:
Olympic climbing in Paris 2024
Disciplines
The initial competition format in 2020 combined three disciplines of competition climbing: speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing, and was highly criticised by both athletes and the climbing community. That was the case of Adam Ondra, maybe the most complete climber in the world, who ended up the 18th because he isn’t traditionally a Speed climber.
Even though it didn’t seem so at the time and it was a bit fuzzy and rightfully disappointing, the IFSC used a “look at the bigger picture” kind of strategy which not only established Climbing as an Olympic Sport but also allowed it to include all 3 disciplines. As a result, this second Olympic Climbing Edition will have a second set of medals granted.
In 2020 Speed heavily challenged even some of the world’s best climbers and competitors – proving it needs some recognition of its own. The same as Lead and Boulder do. Feedback from both sides is what stands at the base of the new Olympic climbing format which is Speed and Boulder & Lead, two different disciplines.
Climber Lynn Hill said “The decision to include speed climbing was like asking a middle-distance runner to compete in the sprint”.
I couldn’t agree more. In the same way, I agree with the fact that this year we should witness an outstanding performance of top climbers who will be performing at their best, at their chosen (not imposed) discipline.
The good news: separating Speed and Boulder & Lead in two different disciplines means Olympic Climbing in Paris 2024 will involve more medals and even more climbing!
Olympic climbing qualification
How do competitors qualify for the bouldering and lead combined?
- The top three athletes per gender at the World Championships ensured their quota spot
- The World Championships in Bern, 1-12 August 2023
- The Continental Qualifiers in September – December 2023
- The final chance for an Olympic qualifying spot will be the Olympic Qualifier Series in May and June 2024
120 National Federations have given the green light to their 464 athletes in total! 68 sports professionals (men and women) will represent the Climbing discipline out of which 28 are confirmed athletes for Speed.
According to the IFSC total places for Boulder and Lead are 40 (men and women) out of which 36 are quota places, 2 are host country quota, and 2 are universality places.
Universality Places – what are those?
Long story short: a priority qualification pathway to support countries that don’t have a history of climbing. The purpose of Universality is to encourage countries that had been underrepresented at the Olympic games in the last 2 summer editions.
However, this place is not guaranteed unless:
- You have the citizenship of one of the selected list of countries qualifying for Universality
- You qualify by having a good world ranking (32)
- You are the best-ranked among all Universality athletes
After filling in all these 3 criteria a competitor still needs to rank in the top 36 for Boulder and Lead and respectively 24 for Speed.
This useful video explains how Universality works:
More on the Speed Qualification System here.
History of climbing as a competitive sport
The very first international climbing competition was held back in 1985 in Stretta Valey, Bardonecchia, Italy. The event called Sportroccia was organised by Andreea Mellano, a very strong Italian climber of the ’60 along with the help of the Italian Academic Alpine Club.
Odd enough but understandable for those times, the first event took place on real rock. Therefore it created several issues that eventually led to changing climbing competitions indoors only.
More climbing this time around
Bring popcorn for Paris 2024 Olympic climbing, as this year there will be even MORE climbing to watch!
Paris 2024 includes a Boulder & Lead discipline and a Speed discipline. That being said, things are now clear for everyone, athletes’ performance is not shadowed anymore, and it makes scoring a whole lot easier! But wait, does it?!
I remember my maths teacher kept repeating to us that whether we like it or not we’ll often need mathematics even if we don’t want to become mathematicians. This may now come in useful as I try to wrap my head around the new scoring system!
Bouldering scoring system for Paris 2024
In the Boulder discipline, a major change is that two zones (instead of one zone in 2020) with points allocated will be marked on the 4 boulders, enabling improved representation of progression and separation. Attempts will also cost the athletes points.
How much is a ‘top’ worth?
Twenty-five (25) points, regardless of whether the competitor has controlled any Zone hold on the boulder.
Quick reminder: In bouldering, we call ‘top’ the very last hold of a boulder problem (typically has between 5 and 10 movements) and it has to be controlled with both hands for a few seconds to count.
How many points for controlling the second zone but no top?
Ten (10) points, regardless of whether the first zone hold has been controlled on previous attempts.
How many points for controlling the first zone hold only?
Five (5) points.
Any penalisations?
Each failed attempt on a boulder will be deducted by one-tenth of a point (-0.1).
Four (4) boulders are worth 100 points in total.
Important: Deductions will be applied only if the competitors reach higher than their previous attempts (for example, reach the top). If they have multiple attempts but don’t manage the next zone or top, their score is not affected.
Lead scoring system for Paris 2024
A Lead route is awarded 100 points and there is one just one for male, and one for female comps.
Points will be awarded as the athletes climb up the route. If they fall, they are not allowed to try the same route again.
To earn maximum points, competitors must clip both the final quickdraw and control the top hold. If a competitor falls while attempting this move, they are awarded an additional +0.1 points.
Scoring for Lead:
- The highest 10 holds are worth 4 points each
- The 10 holds below are worth 3 points each
- The previous 10 holds are worth 2 points per hold
- The 10 holds below give the competitor one point per hold
- Only the highest 40 holds of the Lead route will grant points to the athletes
The combined score for boulder & lead
Paris 2024 scoring system ditched the Tokyo format and chose to simply add the points accumulated in Boulder and Lead altogether. There is a maximum possible score of 200 points.
Climbers to watch in boulder & lead
It has been confirmed that a total of fourteen (14) climbers have qualified in lead and boulder, while twelve 12 others got their tickets in speed climbing. Read on to find out their names.
Female climbers who have already qualified for the Olympics
The one and only Janja Garnbret, (SLO). She did not only win the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but also became the first climber ever to win all the competitions of a season, and also the first one ever to take Gold in all three disciplines (Lead, Bouldering, Combined).
Oriane Bertone, (FRA) is the youngest-ever climber to complete a V14 (8B+). A young, strong, and very promising competitor who will be climbing at the Olympics this summer!
Natalia Grossman, (USA) got her ticket to Paris after winning the women’s boulder & lead finals at the Pan American Games Santiago in 2023.
Jessica Pilz (AUT) finished 7th at the 2020 Olympics.
Ai Mori (JPN) is the first Japanese athlete to win Gold in lead at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships.
Zhang Yuetong (CHN) booked her ticket at the Asian qualifier in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Oceania Mackenzie (AUS) qualified for her second Olympic Games after winning the boulder and lead at the Oceania selection trials in Melbourne.
Lauren Mukheibir (RSA) won the women’s combined competition at the IFSC African Qualifier in Pretoria 2023.
Male climbers who have already qualified for the Olympics
Jakob Schubert (AUT) – four times World Champion and three times World Cup winner has an outstanding competition climbing career and definitely one to keep your eyes on in 2024!
Collin Duffy (USA) was an Olympian in 2020 and the youngest USA competitor at the Tokyo Olympics.
Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) barely needs a presentation. One of the strongest competitors at the moment, he placed fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and qualified for Paris by winning gold in the IFSC Climbing World Championships.
Jesse Grupper (USA) won his ticket to Paris through the 2023 Pan American Championships (boulder and lead climbing combined).
Toby Roberts (GBR) is the youngest British climber to redpoint 9a (5.14d) and the first British male to qualify for the Olympics.
Sorato Anraku (JPN) became the first climber to win both the Lead Overall World Cup and Boulder Overall World Cup in his first senior season.
Campbell Harrison (AUS) secured his spot by winning the boulder and lead at the Oceania selection in 2023.
Mel Janse van Rensburg (RSA) won the men’s combined competition at the IFSC African Qualifier in Pretoria 2023.
Climbers not qualified at time of writing
On top of that there are still some spots to be filled. Since we’re still talking about climbers of highest level, the competition stays tight!
Amongst the women there is: Brooke Raboutou, Eliška Adamovská, Laura Rogora, Fanny Gilbert.
Amongst men, there are big names such as: Alexander Megos, Mejdi Schalck, Adam Ondra, Alberto Gines Lopez, Stefano Ghisolfi.
Scoring for speed climbing
The only change we witness in Speed is the qualification round. Thanks to the additional knock-out stage this year is going to be even more exciting! There are 7 races, where the 7 winners of each race plus the competitor who records the fastest time among the non-winners will qualify for the final.
Similar to World Cups, the final will be subject to the same elimination or ‘knock-out’ process. The wall is 15 m high.
Climbers to watch in speed
12 high-level speed climbers are sure to be involved in the Olympic climbing. Here’s the list of climbers to watch in 2024:
Men: Matteo Zurloni (ITA), Long Jinbao (CHN), Bassa Mawem (FRA), Samuel Watson (USA), Rahmad Adi Mulyono (INA), Julian David (NZL)
Women: Desak MAde Rita Kusuma Dewi (Ina), Emma Hunt (USA), Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL), Piper Kelly (USA), Deng Lijuan (CHN), Sarah Tetzlaff (NZL)
In 2022, Veddriq Leonardo and Katibin Kiromal dominated the Speed climbing scene in men, both climbers claiming top ranking in the World Cups.
The European speed champion in 2022 was Danyil Boldyrev from Ukraine.
As for Women speed climbing, Poland is quite well represented at the Olympics this year:
- Aleksandra Miroslaw – European champion in 2022 – who holds the new world record with a time of only 6.53 seconds
- Aleksandra Kalucka – Won the Silver Medal in Speed climbing at the 2022 IFSC Climbing European Championships
Emma Hunt is also worth a mention as holds the American women’s speed record with 6.67 seconds and is one of the most consistent speed climbers at the moment.
Schedule for Paris 2024
The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will be taking place at the Paris Olympic Venue in Le Bourget, a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris starting 26 July up to 11 August 2024.
SCHEDULE (UTC+2:00):
Monday, 5 August – 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Men’s Boulder & Lead semi-final, Boulder round, and Women’s Speed qualification
Tuesday, 6 August – 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Women’s Boulder & Lead semi-final, Boulder round, and Men’s Speed qualification
Wednesday, 7 August – 10:00 AM to 1:15 PM: Men’s Boulder & Lead semi-final, Lead round and Women’s Speed final
Thursday, 8 August – 10:00 AM to 1:15 PM: Women’s Boulder & Lead semi-final, Lead round and Men’s Speed final
Friday, 9 August – 10:15 AM to 1:20 PM: Men’s Boulder & Lead final
Saturday, 10 August – 10:15 AM to 1:20 PM: Women’s Boulder & Lead final
Useful links
- Watch the World Cup Season in Sport Climbing with a full schedule and life streaming
- Where to buy your tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic climbing
- Where to watch the Olympic Games
