Added to the Olympics schedule for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, sport climbing is back and bigger for the 2024 edition in Paris.
Plenty of people will have got their first glimpse at sport climbing at the last Games and will be ready to evaluate the sports betting markets this time around.
Captivating to watch and with remarkably athletic competitors, sport climbing is destined to lure in new fans in the coming years. The interest in live betting is bound to increase, too.
Here’s a quick look at sport climbing’s rules, history, scoring, and regulations.
History
Sport climbing originated in the 1980s. French climbers had exhausted the routes which had the right cracks and fissures for their protective equipment, so they began to branch out to smooth, almost blank rock faces for a greater challenge.
Pre-drilled bolts into these locations made for specifically designed climbing routes. Around a similar time, a climbing revolution was also taking place in the United States. Alan Watts created the first American sport climbs.
France and Germany were the European hubs of sport climbing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the UK was far more resistant to placing bolts into natural surfaces.
Leading British climbers were forced to move abroad to ride the wave of sport climbing momentum in the UK’s European neighbours.
The initial hesitancy to accept sport climbing faded over a few years.
Bolted routes were much safer than ‘traditional’ climbing. Competitive sport climbing naturally became a competitive endeavour in the 1980s.
Major international events introduced the best climbers from Europe and America to one another, and within two decades, governing bodies were regularly organising international competitions.
The IFSC Climbing World Cup first took place in 1989 and has gone from strength to strength since.
Speed climbing was added in 1998, with bouldering becoming part of the program a year later. Sport climbing was added to the Olympics in 2020. It returns for the 2024 Games in Paris.
Rules
For the 2024 Olympics, there are two sport climbing events: speed and combined. The combined event mixes the disciplines of bouldering and lead climbing. All three were one event for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Speed climbing is a race to see which climber can connect with the touchpad at the top of the wall first.
There are two lanes, with climbers going head-to-head. Any athlete leaving the ground less than 0.1 seconds after the buzzer sounds has committed a false start.
Bouldering is a mental and physical challenge. There are multiple short routes to complete, which are unknown to the climbers before the competition. The aim is to complete them all in the fewest number of attempts – route setters aim to test different skills on each boulder.
There is a designated starting position for each boulder, where the climber must place all four limbs at the bottom of the wall.
An athlete has completed the boulder when they place two hands on the top hold and maintains control for long enough for a judge to signal that it was a successful climb. Partial credit is awarded for climbers who reach a zone hold.
Lead climbing sees climbers ascend a 15-metre, unique wall. Climbers are given six minutes to climb as high as they can on the wall.
They also need to regularly clip their rope into carabiners along the way, failure to do so invalidates any further progress. Each round allows the climbers a six-minute period to observe the wall and plot their route.
Scoring
Speed climbing results are simply based on time. The fastest times will progress from the qualifiers to the final.
Climbers can score a maximum of 100 points in bouldering. Climbers are ranked on the fewest total attempts, zone holds reached, and boulders topped within the allocated time. There are 25 points for each boulder topped.
Failing to top a boulder still means a climber can get 10 points for reaching the second checkpoint or five points for the first checkpoint. There is a -0.1-point deduction for failing to reach a zone or top, but this is only deduced if they later reach that target.
In lead climbing, points are awarded for the top 40 holds. The scoring system is as follows:
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The highest 10 holds (40-31): 4 points each
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The previous 10 holds (30-21): 3 points each
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The previous 10 holds (20-11): 2 points each
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The lowest 10 holds (10-1): 1 point each
Wall Size & Dimensions
The speed climbing wall is 15 metres high. It is identical for every competition, meaning climbers are aiming to memorise their optimal path to the top. Each hold is the same size and in the exact same location on every wall.
Bouldering routes are roughly 4.5 metres in length but there are multiple of them in a given event. Route setters decide on the layout ahead of each round, with competitors not seeing the course until the competition begins. There is no rope used. Men and women have different courses.
Lead climbing also uses a 15-metre wall. The route is different to that on speed climbing, and there are at least 40 holds.
Equipment
Aside from a harness, rope, and climbing shoes, a quickdraw is the most important piece of sport climbing equipment.
These are used to clip the rope without creating unnecessary friction.
Most Successful Countries at the Olympics
Slovenia and Spain won a gold medal apiece in sport climbing at the 2020 Olympics. The United States and Austria won a silver and a bronze, respectively.
Japan won a silver and a gold, making them the only country with multiple sport climbing medals.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
