Paris 2024 Olympics: everything you need to know about sport climbing, its history, rules, records

Sport climbing is a recent sport: the first competitions took place in the 1980s. The discipline was included in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2018, at the Buenos Aires Youth Games. Having quickly won over the public, sport climbing was again selected for the Tokyo Games in 2021, then for the Paris Games in 2024. And it will again be on the program for the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

While we wait for this American edition, let's focus on Paris: the sport climbing events are organized from August 5 to 8, 2024 for the speed events, and from August 5 to 10, 2024 for the bouldering-difficulty combined. We'll be at Le Bourget climbing site to cheer on these athletes.

Climbing on natural rock is an ancient discipline. The sporty, competitive version was born in the mid-1980s, first in Italy and then in France, with the first competition on an artificial climbing wall. A few years later, in the early 1990s, it was decided that international tournaments would all be held indoors, on artificial infrastructures, in order to protect the environment.

Today, sport climbing is divided into three different disciplines. The speed event is a dual time trial: climbers must scale a 15-meter-high inclined wall in a limited time (less than six seconds for men, less than seven for women). The bouldering event takes place on a 4.5-meter wall, which athletes must climb without rope, as quickly as possible, and with as few attempts as possible. Finally, the difficulty event pits two athletes against each other, who must climb a 15-meter wall in six minutes or less, without knowing the route beforehand. At the Paris Olympics, the bouldering and difficulty events are combined.

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This recent sport does not have as rich a history as boxing or swimming, but there are already some impressive records. The first Olympic champions in sport climbing were Janja Garnbret (Slovenian athlete) and Alberto Ginés (Spanish climber). The world speed record belongs to Kiromal Katibin, an Indonesian who climbed the 15-meter wall in 5 seconds. The women's record is held by Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland), who triumphed with a time of 6.52 seconds at the IFSC 2022 World Cup in Salt Lake City.

So the French have some serious competitors... But medals remain within their grasp. They include Fanny Gibert, Anouck Jaubert, Manuel Cornu and Julia Chanourdie.

Fancy trying out this Olympic sport? Here are a few addresses in Paris and Île-de-France where you can have fun and let off steam.

Open-air and outdoor climbing sites and gyms in Paris and the Ile-de-France region
Looking for a climbing site in and around Paris? Whether you're looking for outdoor climbing, indoor climbing with ropes, or bouldering without ropes or harnesses, we've got something for you, whatever the weather! [Read more]