Sport climbing at the 2024 Summer Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Competition climbing at the Games of the Olympiad
Venue	Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue
Dates	5–10 August 2024
No. of events	4 (2 men, 2 women)
Competitors	68
← 2020 2028 →

Competition climbing is an exciting sport. It involves athletes climbing tall walls. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, competition climbing took place from August 5 to 10. The event was held at the Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue. This was the second time climbing was part of the Olympics. It first appeared in Tokyo 2020.

For the Paris 2024 Games, the climbing competition changed. There are now four medal events instead of two. This is because the "boulder-and-lead" event was separated from the "speed" event. Also, more climbers competed. The number of athletes grew from 40 to 68.

Where the Climbing Happened

The climbing competitions were held at the Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue.

The climbing competitions were held at the Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue. This venue is in Le Bourget, a suburb near Paris. It is one of two new sports places built just for the Paris 2024 Games. The other new place is the aquatic center in Saint-Denis.

How the Competition Works

When climbing first joined the Olympics in 2020, it had one "combined" event. This meant athletes competed in three types of climbing: bouldering, lead, and speed. Their scores from all three were multiplied together. Many athletes did not like this system. They felt it was unfair because speed climbing is very different from bouldering and lead climbing.

For the Paris 2024 Olympics, things changed. The International Olympic Committee decided to have four medal events. There are two main types of climbing, each for men and women:

• Boulder-and-lead combined
• Speed climbing

Speed Climbing

Speed climbing is now its own event. In this event, two climbers race side-by-side. They climb a 15-meter (about 49 feet) wall. The goal is to reach the top as fast as possible. It's a thrilling race to see who is quickest!

Boulder-and-Lead Combined

The boulder-and-lead combined event is different from speed climbing. It tests a climber's strength, skill, and strategy. For Paris 2024, the scoring system for this event was updated. Now, climbers earn points for their performance in both bouldering and lead climbing. The athlete with the most points wins.

Here is how the scoring works:

• An athlete can earn a maximum of 200 points in total.
• Bouldering: This part is worth up to 100 points.
  • There are four different climbing problems (routes). Each problem is worth up to 25 points.
  • Climbers get 5 points for reaching the first "zone" hold.
  • They get 10 points for reaching the second "zone" hold.
  • They get the full 25 points for reaching the "top" hold.
  • If a climber tries to reach a scoring hold but fails, 0.1 points are taken away for each failed try.
• Lead Climbing: This part is also worth up to 100 points.
  • Climbers get 100 points if they reach the very top of the route and clip their rope.
  • Points are given for the last 40 moves of the route.
  • The last 10 moves (closest to the top) are worth 4 points each.
  • The next 10 moves are worth 3 points each.
  • The next 10 moves are worth 2 points each.
  • The first 10 moves (of the final 40) are worth 1 point each.
  • Moves below these final 40 do not earn any points.

This new scoring system was first tested in 2022. It was used at events in Barcelona, Munich, and Morioka.

How Climbers Qualified

A total of 68 spots were available for climbers at Paris 2024. This is a big increase from the 40 spots in Tokyo 2020. There were 28 spots for speed climbing and 40 for boulder-and-lead combined. Each country could send a maximum of four climbers. This meant two men and two women, with two in each climbing type.

The qualification process started at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships. This event was held in Bern, Switzerland. The top climbers there earned the first spots. After that, climbers could qualify at special events on each continent. These events took place in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. More chances to qualify were available at Olympic Qualifier Series events in 2024.

Because France is the host country, they automatically got a spot for one French climber of each gender in each event. This is only if they did not already have a qualified athlete. Also, four more spots were saved for countries that usually do not send many athletes to the Olympics. This is called the Universality rule.

Competition Schedule

Medal Winners

The final of the men's speed competition.

Medal Table

  *   Host nation (France)

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Poland	1	0	1	2
2	Great Britain	1	0	0	1
	Indonesia	1	0	0	1
	Slovenia	1	0	0	1
5	China	0	2	0	2
6	United States	0	1	1	2
7	Japan	0	1	0	1
8	Austria	0	0	2	2
Totals (8 entries)		4	4	4	12

Medalists

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men's combined details	Toby Roberts  Great Britain	Sorato Anraku  Japan	Jakob Schubert  Austria
Men's speed details	Veddriq Leonardo  Indonesia	Wu Peng  China	Sam Watson  United States
Women's combined details	Janja Garnbret  Slovenia	Brooke Raboutou  United States	Jessica Pilz  Austria
Women's speed details	Aleksandra Mirosław  Poland	Deng Lijuan  China	Aleksandra Kałucka  Poland

New Records Set

Some amazing new records were set during the climbing events!

Event	Round	Climber	Nation	Time	Date	Record
Women's speed (speed)	Qualification	Aleksandra Mirosław	Poland	6.06	5 August	WR
Men's speed (speed)	Bronze medal match	Sam Watson	United States	4.74	8 August	WR

See also

In Spanish: Escalada en los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024 para niños

• Sport climbing at the 2023 Pan American Games