How to climb at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the stars of Team USA, and more information

How to climb at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the stars of Team USA, and more information

When was climbing added to the Olympic Games? Climbing made its debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Before that, the sport was introduced on the Olympic stage during the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

The decision to include climbing to the curriculum, along with skateboarding and surfing, was a part of an effort to include more urban sports with an emphasis on gaining popularity among younger people. Sport climbing will still be offered at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Lead: In six minutes, climbers reach their maximum height on a 15-meter (almost 50-foot) wall in a single attempt. Speed: Competitors ascend a 15-meter wall with a five-degree incline in one-on-one elimination rounds and a timed race. For men, the greatest athletes can finish in under six seconds, and for women, it usually takes under seven. On October 22, 2023, at the Climbing Walls of the Cerrillos Park in Santiago, during the Pan American Games Santiago 2023, American competitor Sam Watson celebrates his gold medal triumph in the men's speed climbing final.

These Games differ from the Tokyo Olympics in that bouldering and lead are still combined, but speed climbing is now its own sport. Climbers can concentrate on their specialities thanks to this arrangement.

In addition, the scoring scheme differs from Tokyo's. To get the ultimate score for the 2021 Games, the scores from each discipline were multiplied by one another. However, the new judging approach for bouldering and lead comprises a maximum of 200 points, eliminating the factor of speed climbing. In bouldering, climbers earn points by moving through several "zones" on the wall (5 points for a low zone, 10 points for a high zone), and completing the top hold (25 points). A flawless bouldering round consisting of flashing four boulder problems is worth 100 points. Points are subtracted for attempts.

Athletes that are in the lead get points by holding the top 40 holds; as they go up the wall, more points are awarded for each hold. An athlete will receive an additional 0.1 points on top of their previous score if they advance to the next hold but are unable to hold it securely. In bouldering and lead, twenty men and twenty women compete.

There are fourteen participants in the speed category for men and women. There are two speed runs for each climber (on two distinct walls). Based on their fastest time, they will then be rated 1 through 14, and those rankings will determine the pairings for the subsequent elimination rounds.

Top American climbers competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris Sam Watson: The 18-year-old current world record holder for men's speed is Watson, with a time of 4.79 seconds. He won gold in the Pan American Games in Santiago last year and finished 2023 rated eighth in the world in the men's speed category. Natalia Grossman: She placed first in the women's bouldering competition last year and fifth in the bouldering and lead combination division. At the Pan American Games, Grossman won gold in the boulder and lead events. The daughter of former climbing world cup champions Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou and Didier Raboutou, who is French, Brooke Raboutou finished fifth in Tokyo. She speaks excellent French.

elite international climbers competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris The defending women's gold medallist, Janja Garnbret of Slovenia, is returning and will compete on the lead/bouldering side. In the women's speed division, Aleksandra Miroslav of Poland will be a competitor to watch, and Ai Mori of Japan is a formidable force in the boulder/lead division. Rahmad Adi Mulyon and Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia will compete against Watson for the podium in the men's speed event. Four-time world champion and podium finisher in the men's lead/bouldering event is Australia's Jakob Shubert.