Olympic climbing makes its debut at the Tokyo 2021 Games: Here's all you need to know

The olympic climbing has gained recognition from the Olympic Committee and is now officially an Olympic sport. It will make its debut at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

This decision has climbers around the world excited. But it has also raised some concerns and a bit of controversy in the climbing world.

For example, in the different swimming distances they are rewarded with their own medal, which amounts to a staggering 18 medals for both men and women.

But in the diverse sport of climbing, with its various disciplines, you will only be rewarded with one medal per gender.

In any case, climbers and lovers of the sport are exuberant about the acceptance of climbing in the Olympics.

In this post you will find out everything you need to know about climbing at the Olympics: from the types of climbing we will see at Tokyo 2021 and the controversy this has caused, right down to how the classification system will work.

What kind of climbing will we see at the Olympics?

The three climbing sub-disciplines that we will be able to enjoy at the Olympics are:

• Speed climbing
• Lead Climbing (Difficulty tests)
• Bouldering (Block Climbing)

The choice of these three disciplines has provoked some controversy. In particular, the way in which each of these disciplines contributes to the overall score has been taken with reluctance in the climbing world.

And this is because, to those who do not practice or follow the sport, climbing may appear to be a homogeneous sport. In reality, however, there is a whole spectrum of types of climbing that can be done, and only a few climbers master them all.

In the current Olympic format, climbers are expected to compete simultaneously in all three types of climbing.

It's almost like asking an Olympic swimmer to take part in a triathlon.

The athlete can be great in one of the three forms of the competition, but having to to perform in all three is asking a lot of any climber..

Lead Climbing at the Olympics

The oldest type of climbing is lead climbing. So it seemed obvious that this discipline would be the first to be incorporated into the Olympic format.

The first lead climbing competitions already took place in the 1980s. In bouldering, the main objective is to climb as high as possible in only 6 minutes.

It is important to note that time does not matter unless there is a tie in terms of the height of the climbers on the route. So, if two different contenders climb to the top of a route, who wins is determined by the time it took each of these contenders to reach the top.

If, on the other hand, a climber reaches the 20th pole in 6 minutes, while another climber reaches the cellar pole in 5 minutes, but cannot reach the 21st pole, the competitor who reached the 21st pole wins.

Being able to scaling up efficiently is probably the most important skill in all lead climbing. This is practised on a 15 metre wall with at least 7 metres of overhang.

Summary

• 15 metres of wall
• 7 metres overhang or more
• Distance climbed is more important than speed
• 6 minutes to climb as high as possible

Block Climbing at the Olympics

In the late 1990s, bouldering burst onto the world cup scene and is the youngest climbing discipline in sport climbing.

Bouldering competitions usually set a time limit of 4-5 minutes to complete a specific bouldering wall.

The goal in bouldering is to complete as many obstacles as possible using as few attempts as possible. Modern style bouldering requires a lot of power and a broad set of skills, including dynamic movements, because sport has evolved from clinging on to small crimps to jumping to performing real pirouettes to hold on and move forward.

At the Olympics, climbers will be challenged to complete three bouldering tests each in 4 minutes time, armed only with their climbing shoes and chalk.

Summary

• As many obstacles overcome as possible
• As few attempts as possible
• 4 minutes time per problem
• 3 stone obstacles in total

Speed climbing at the Olympics

And finally there is speed climbing, where the fastest possible ascent is the ultimate goal.

All wall fixings are standardised. This means that no matter where in the world a speed route is climbed, the route will be exactly the same.

This is also why it is possible to hold a climbing speed record. The current world climbing speed record is about 5.5 seconds. That's an insane time, because the wall is 15 metres high and overhangs by 5 degrees.

So it will be difficult to break it at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but with the current level of excitement among the competing climbers, anything is possible.

To break the world record in the discipline of speed climbing requires a very high level of preparation. Imagine climbing 3 metres per second on a slightly overhanging vertical wall. How could he do that!

Summary

• Standardised delays / route
• 15 metres high
• 5 degrees of jump
• Only time matters
• Two attempts to establish the best score
• The current record is held by Reza Alipour with 5.48 seconds.

The IFSC's controversial decision

The whole climbing world was celebrating when climbing was first nominated and later approved to be an Olympic sport at the Tokyo games.

But the Olympic Committee gave climbing only one set of medalsone for men and one for women.

At that time, it was up to the IFSC. This body would be in charge of deciding which of the three disciplines it would propose as an Olympic sport. The federation, interestingly, then proposed a combination of the three.

Many climbers thought the format was somewhat unfortunate.

Many climbers who climb on real rock have never cared much about speed climbing. They don't necessarily care about completing a climbing route in a short time, but focus on climbing it safely and with proper technique. They love the fact that every climbing route is different.

Still, the climbers preparing for the Olympics seem to be content with what they have been given and are generally enthusiastic.

With this decision, what happens is that a climber who performs worse in two disciplines, but wins in the remaining one, beats the climber who performs better on average in all three types of climbing.

Then, What would you do if you were preparing for or competing in the Olympics? Would you focus all your training on one of the three types of climbing and try to win at it? Or would you train for all three? Or would you adopt a mixed strategy?

This is a question that many Olympic climbers are currently struggling with.

Of course, we wish them all good luck with their training and Climbing's debut at the Olympic Games.