“I find myself once again, thanking the sport that I’m at.” These were the words of the BBC’s climbing reporter Tim Harwood, reflecting on seeing Toby “the Terminator” Roberts win Team GBs first ever Olympic climbing medal in spectacular fashion, beating Japan’s Sorato Anraku to the gold.
Intrigued by this unique sport, we spoke to the British Mountaineering Council - an Alliance member - earlier this month, to learn more about the incredible spectacle that is sport climbing.
What is Sport Climbing?
Described by the Olympic website as young and modern sport, practiced both indoors and outdoors, the first organised climbing competition is thought to have been in held in 1985, just outside Turin, Italy. Competitors climbed within a certain time limit, and a year later the first indoor climbing event took place, appropriately, in France.
The sport has come a long way since then, with an estimated 25 million sport climbers worldwide. Making its debut at the 2018 Olympic Youth Games, sport climbing was featured at the 2020 Tokyo Games. However, unusually, athletes competing in sport climbing had to compete across three disciplines for a single medal, in a triathlon style event.
The Rules
Traditionally sport climbing has three disciplines: speed climbing, lead climbing and bouldering. In speed climbing, athletes race against the clock in one-one-one elimination rounds; in lead climbing, athletes climb as high as they can in six minutes, on a wall over 15 metres high, testing the athletes’ physical and mental ability. In bouldering, athletes climb 4.5 metres high walls without ropes, in a limited period of time and in the fewest attempts possible.
For Paris 2024 there are now two medal events: one for speed and one for lead & boulder, the latter being a sort of biathlon.
Despite no Great British athletes qualifying for speed climbing for Paris 2024, Team GB have more than made up for that in boulder and lead, sending two male and two female athletes for those disciplines.
Speaking to the Alliance, the British Mountaineering Council said:
“This is an amazing achievement not just for our athletes but also our sport as we filled our quota and could not have sent any more athletes for that discipline.”
The Future of Sport Climbing
With over 450 climbing walls across the UK, the future look bright for climbing in the UK. Not only will sport climbing in the UK benefit hugely from the number of athletes sent to Paris this Olympics, but the impact of Toby Roberts securing the gold in in the boulder/lead climbing combo will hopefully shine a spotlight on this incredible sport, inspiring future generations of climbers for many years to come.
The excitement isn't over yet, with Erin McNeice representing Team GB in the Women's lead/boulder final tomorrow from 9:15 BST.
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