Olympic Committee Votes to Include Sport Climbing in Paris 2024 Games

Sport climbing will make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with four events (two male events and two female events). Each event will combine bouldering, lead, and speed. According to the IOC, “in Lead [athletes] have one attempt to reach the top of a 15m high wall counting on their tactics and endurance, while they have to complete several 4.5m high routes made of spectacular movements in Bouldering. In Speed, athletes race against each other, and the world record time, on a standardised wall.”

While the IOC vote is certainly encouraging to climbers, it is only a provisional vote thus far. The IOC’s executive board will make the final decision on the proposed new events for the 2024 Games in December 2020. Until then, the popularity and success of climbing competitions — including in Tokyo 2020 — will be monitored by the IOC, with the format for Paris subject to change based on their findings.