Climbing to be featured as a sport at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Sport climbing debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as one of the new urban sports and has already set its sights on Paris 2024. Great Britain’s Toby Roberts has already qualified for the boulder and lead event at the upcoming Games, showcasing the sport’s growing popularity.

The sport climbing events at Paris 2024 are scheduled to run from 5-10 August at the Le Bourget Climbing venue, which was specifically built for these events. There will be four medal events – men’s and women’s speed climbing, as well as men’s and women’s boulder and lead competitions. The schedule includes the women’s speed final on 7 August, the men’s speed final on 8 August, the men’s boulder and lead final on 9 August, and the women’s final on 10 August.

Olympic sport climbing is divided into three formats – speed, boulder, and lead climbing. In the boulder event, athletes climb 4.5m walls without ropes to complete the climb in the shortest time and fewest attempts. In lead climbing, athletes must make it to the top of a wall over 15m with an overhang within six minutes. Points are awarded for reaching zones on the wall in lead and completing moves in boulder, with a maximum points total of 200 available.

Speed climbing involves athletes racing up a 15m high wall in one-on-one knockout rounds. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, all three sport climbing formats were combined into one medal event for each gender. Spain’s Alberto Gines Lopez and Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret took home the gold medals. With the excitement surrounding the sport climbing events at Paris 2024, further Olympic places will be available at the Olympic Qualifier Series on 20-23 June.