Competition climbing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan[1] (postponed to 2021[2] due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Two events were held, one each for men and women. The format controversially consisted of one combined event with three disciplines: lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering. The medals were determined based on best performance across all three disciplines. This format was previously tested at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. The Olympic code for sports climbing is CLB.
| Competition climbing at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Aomi Urban Sports Park, Tokyo |
| Dates | 3–6 August 2021 |
| No. of events | 2 |
| Competitors | 40 from 19 nations |
Two qualification boulders were leaked on YouTube; the video was quickly taken down and the boulders were reset.[3]
Format
editOn August 3, 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally announced that competition climbing would be a medal sport in the 2020 Summer Olympics.[1][4] The inclusion was proposed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) in 2015.[5]
The decision to combine three disciplines of lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing with one set of medals per sex caused widespread criticism in the climbing world.[6]
Climber Lynn Hill said the decision to include speed climbing was like "asking a middle-distance runner to compete in the sprint." Czech climber Adam Ondra, who later competed as a finalist at the Olympics, voiced similar sentiments in an interview stating that anything would be better than this combination. There is some overlap between athletes in the categories of lead climbing and bouldering, but speed climbing is usually seen as a separate discipline which is practiced by specialized athletes. Climber Shauna Coxsey stated, "No boulderer has transitioned to speed and lead, and no speed climber has done it to bouldering and lead."[6][7]
Members of the IFSC explained that they were only granted one gold medal per gender by the Olympic committee and they did not want to exclude speed climbing. The IFSC's goal for the 2020 Olympics was primarily to establish climbing and its three disciplines as Olympic sports; changes to the format could follow later. This tactic proved to be successful as they were granted a second set of medals for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where speed climbing will be a separate event from the combined event of lead climbing and bouldering.[6][8][9]
The final rankings were calculated by multiplying the climbers' rankings in each discipline, with the best score being the lowest one.[10][11]
Qualification
editThere were 40 quota spots available for competition climbing. Each National Olympic Committee could obtain a maximum of 2 spots in each event (total 4 maximum across the 2 events). Each event had 20 competitors qualify: 18 from qualification, 1 from the host (Japan), and 1 from Tripartite Commission invitations.[12]
The 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships served as one qualification event with 7 spots per gender being awarded to the top finishers of the combined event.[13][14]
Schedule
editThe schedule for the events was as follows.[15][16]
| Date | Aug 3 | Aug 4 | Aug 5 | Aug 6 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's | S Qualification: Speed climbing | B Qualification: Bouldering | L Qualification: Lead climbing | S Finals: Speed climbing | B Finals: Bouldering | L Finals: Lead climbing | ||||||
| Women's | S Qualification: Speed climbing | B Qualification: Bouldering | L Qualification: Lead climbing | S Finals: Speed climbing | B Finals: Bouldering | L Finals: Lead climbing | ||||||
| S = Speed, B = Bouldering, L = Lead | ||||||||||||
| Q | Qualification | F | Finals |
Participating nations
edit40 climbers from 19 nations qualified. Qualification events included the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships, Olympic Qualifying Event, and continental championships.
Australia (2)
Austria (2)
Canada (2)
China (2)
Czech Republic (1)
France (4)
Germany (2)
Great Britain (1)
Italy (3)
Japan (4) Host
Kazakhstan (1)
Poland (1)
ROC (3)
Slovenia (2)
South Africa (2)
South Korea (2)
Spain (1)
Switzerland (1)
United States (4)
Medal summary
editMedal table
edit* Host nation (Japan)
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Slovenia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Spain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 |  Japan* | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 |  United States | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 |  Austria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (5 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Medalists
edit| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's combined |
Alberto Ginés López Spain
|
Nathaniel Coleman United States
|
Jakob Schubert Austria
|
| Women's combined |
Janja Garnbret Slovenia
|
Miho Nonaka Japan
|
Akiyo Noguchi Japan
|
Records broken
edit| Event | Round | Climber | Nation | Time | Date | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's combined (speed) | Qualification | Bassa Mawem |  France |
5.45 | 3 August | OR[17] |
| Women's combined (speed) | Qualification | Aleksandra Mirosław |  Poland |
6.97 | 4 August | OR[18] |
| Final | Aleksandra Mirosław | Poland
|
6.84 | 6 August | WR[19] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "IOC approves five new sports for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – Olympic News". Olympic.org. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
- ^ "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". IOC. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
- ^ "Breach of Security at Olympic Climbing Wall Causes Kerfuffle". Climbing. 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
- ^ "Climbing Officially Approved for 2020 Olympics". climbing.com. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
- ^ "IFSC Proposes Sport Climbing For Toyko 2020 Olympic Games". The British Mountaineering Council. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Rock climbing will be a 2020 Olympic sport. Here's what to expect". National Geographic. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
- ^ "Sport climbing is like asking Usain Bolt to run a marathon and then do the hurdles". Olympic.com. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
- ^ "Vertical Triathlon: The Future of Climbing in the Olympics". climbing.com. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on Aug 10, 2019.
- ^ "Olympic Committee Unanimously Votes to Include Sport Climbing in Paris 2024 Games". climbing.com. 25 June 2019. Archived from the original on Jul 4, 2019.
- ^ Burgman, John. "A Guide to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Climbing Format". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
- ^ "How Does Sport Climbing At The Olympics Work? – Olympic Climbing Format Explained". Climber News. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Sport climbing; International Federation of Sport Climbing, 15 March 2018.
- ^ "GB Climbing in Hachioji: first step to Tokyo 2020". British Mountaineering Council. 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on Aug 11, 2019.
- ^ "IFSC Climbing World Championships – Hachioji (JPN) 2019". International Federation of Sport Climbing. Archived from the original on Aug 11, 2019.
- ^ "Schedule – Sport Climbing Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympian Database. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- ^ "Sport Climbing Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- ^ "Sport Climbing – Men's Combined – Speed Qualification Results" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ "Sport Climbing – Women's Combined – Speed Qualification Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ^ "Sport Climbing – Women's Combined – Speed Final Brackets" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
External links
edit- Results book Archived 2021-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
