A roadmap to follow for the sport climbing competition at the Paris Games:
Athletes to Watch
Janja Garnbret, Slovenia: The eight-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion has been the most dominant climber in the sport.
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Sam Watson, United States: The 18-year-old speed-climbing specialist qualified for Paris by winning the gold medal at the Pan American Games.
Aleksandra Miroslaw, Poland: She set the women’s speed-climbing world record at the final in the Tokyo Games and lowered that mark seven other times since then.
Sorato Anraku, Japan: The 17-year-old Anraku is the top-ranked athlete in lead and boulder.
Jakob Schubert, Austria: The six-time world champion won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Storylines to Follow
The 25-year-old Janja Garnbret has been one of the sport’s greatest stars and will try to repeat her Olympic gold from Tokyo. She has attracted attention for speaking out about how eating disorders have hurt athletes who believe staying skinny is the only way to succeed.
It will be the first Olympics in which athletes go through a more comprehensive screening process to determine if they are affected by eating disorders.
The speed climbing world records have been lowered at a rapid pace recently and are expected to go down during the Games as well.
There will be changes to sport climbing after its debut in the Tokyo Games, when only one gold medal was awarded for men and women after each athlete competed in all three disciplines and the final scores reflected the combined results. In Paris, two gold medals will be awarded for the men and women — one will be a combined competition of bouldering and lead events, and the second will only feature a speed event.
The Paris Games will see an increase in the number of sport climbing athletes participating in comparison to the Tokyo Games, from 40 athletes in Tokyo to 68 in Paris.
Key Dates
The competition will begin on Aug. 5 and end on Aug. 10. The women’s speed final will be on Aug. 7 and the men’s on Aug. 8. The men’s combined boulder and lead final will be on Aug. 9 and the women’s on Aug. 10.
Reigning Champions
Women’s combined: Janja Garnbret, Slovenia.
Men’s combined: Alberto Ginés López, Spain.