Olympic Climbing Spotlight
After an extra year of waiting, the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games are upon us. In just a few days athletes from all across the world will gather for the biggest competition event of their careers.
What would have been the 2020 Olympics sees the debut of several very exciting new sports: Surfing, karate, skateboarding, Baseball/Softball and of course, sport climbing.
The climbing events will take place August 3-6, with 2 days of men’s combined competition and 2 days for the women.
Unlike typical climbing comps, where the objective is a single discipline - either bouldering, lead climbing or speed climbing - the Olympic event will require each athlete to excel in all 3 disciplines back to back in order to qualify and win. While there is often cross-over between climbers who compete in bouldering and lead climbing, typically you won’t find them participating in speed events. Likewise, speed climbers rarely cross over into bouldering and lead events. This will make for some very interesting rankings during the event.
Climbing has been accepted into the Paris 2024 games already, with a proposed new format, which separates speed climbing from bouldering & lead.
Here are the 2020 (2021) Olympians who will compete for the first-ever Olympic climbing podium.
Men
Tom O’Halloran (AUS)
Jakob Schubert (AUT)
Sean McColl (CAN)
Pan Yufei (CHN)
Adam Ondra (CZE)
Alberto Ginés López (ESP)
Mickaël Mawem (FRA)
Bassa Mawem (FRA)
Jan Hojer (GER)
Alex Megos (GER)
Ludovico Fossali (ITA)
Michael Piccolruaz (ITA)
Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
Kai Harada (JPN)
Rishat Khaibullin (KAZ)
Chon Jong-won (KOR)
Christopher Cosser (RSA)
Aleksei Rubtsov (RUS)
Colin Duffy (USA)
Nathaniel Coleman (USA)
Women
Oceana Mackenzie (AUS)
Jessica Pilz (AUT)
Alannah Yip (CAN)
Song Yiling (CHN)
Julia Chanourdie (FRA)
Anouck Jaubert (FRA)
Shauna Coxsey (GBR)
Laura Rogora (ITA)
Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)
Miho Nonaka (JPN)
Seo Chae-hyun (KOR)
Aleksandra Mirosław (POL)
Erin Sterkenburg (RSA)
Viktoriia Meshkova (RUS)
Iuliia Kaplina (RUS)
Janja Garnbret (SLO)
Mia Krampl (SLO)
Petra Klingler (SUI)
Brooke Raboutou (USA)
Kyra Condie (USA)
It’s nothing short of a world-class roster, with some of the biggest names in climbing. Long-time world cup champion, Shauna Coxsey of Great Britain will be setting a high bar in bouldering for the women. Coxsey recently announced her retirement from competitive climbing following the Olympic debut. Japan's Akio Naguci also announced her retirement following the games after a 16-year career of 68 World Cup podium finishes.
There’s no telling how the tables will turn in this world debut, as a mix of veterans and fast-rising stars take the stage together in competitive climbing's biggest event in history.
What are your podium predictions for the Tokyo Games?
What other events will you be watching?
Join us on Instagram, August 3-6 as we’ll be watching the late night live coverage on US central time.