American teenager Sam Watson set a new world record at the Olympics on Tuesday in the relatively new Olympic event of sport climbing for speed, which sets two climbers against each other as they race side-by-side to be the first to make their way up a 15-meter wall.
All you need to know about Sport Climbing
Sports climbing, which made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021, was initially introduced at the Beunos Aires Youth Olympic Games in 2018. This inclusion, that was done alongside skateboarding and surfing, was part of the International Olympic Committee’s strategy to modernize the Olympic program and engage a younger audience.
Sport climbing’s popularity and relevance have ensured its continued presence, with the discipline set to feature in the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics.
The Structure of Olympic Sport Climbing
Bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing are the three separate Olympic sport climbing disciplines.
Bouldering: In this sport, competitors use no ropes to climb a 4.5-meter (15-foot) wall in a set amount of time, with the goal of finishing in the fewest attempts possible.
Lead: Climbers have six minutes to go as high as they can on a 15-meter (almost 50-foot) wall in only one try.
Speed: Competitors will race one another up a 15-meter wall that is inclined five degrees. The fastest male climbers in the world can finish in less than six seconds, and the fastest female climbers frequently finish in less than seven seconds.
