Tokyo Olympics: What is sport climbing? Explaining the newest sport

If you’re looking for something different in the upcoming schedule at the Olympics, one event that may catch your eye is sport climbing.

This is the first year that sport climbing will compete in the Olympics and if you have no idea what to expect once everything unfolds, we’re here to offer some helpful context.

Right off the bat, let’s start with the basics. Sport climbing is, at its essence, competitive rock climbing. The athletes are using just their hands and feet to ascend up a vertical wall. No equipment is permitted beyond safety ropes and climbing shoes.

The sport is broken up into three unique subsections. They are as follows:

Bouldering – Complete as many routes (also called “problems”) possible in a given time

Lead – Climb as high as possible on a 15-meter wall in a 6-minute window

Speed – Climb as fast as possible on a 15-meter wall, typically finishing in quicker than ten seconds

The athletes compete in each of these events and medals are awarded based on overall placement in the aggregate. Winners must show a wide range of skills in order to take home their medals.

However, because each discipline is given equal weight, accomplished climbers who do not typically focus on speed are put at a disadvantage. Shauna Coxsey, who will compete for Great Britain, offered this explanation (via Olympics.com):

“It’s a bit like asking Usain Bolt to run a marathon and then do the hurdles. No one has really transitioned before. No boulderer has transitioned to speed and lead, and no speed climber has done it to bouldering and lead.”

Another unique element about sport climbing in the Tokyo Olympics is that athletes will not actually get to see the walls for the bouldering discipline or the lead discipline until right before they begin the competition. The walls will literally be held under wraps until right before climbing.

The United States is sending four athletes (two men, two women) to compete at sport climbing in the Tokyo Olympics. Qualifying events begin Aug. 3 and the finals are on Aug. 5 and Aug. 6.