Countdown to the World Games Birmingham: Sport Climbing

Imagine standing at the bottom of a 15 meter or almost 50 foot climbing wall and needing to get to the top in under six seconds.

That’s the reality speed climbers will face this summer at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham – less than a year after sport climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo 2021.

“Sport climbing should prove to be one of the most exciting events for fans at the World Games in July,” said Nick Sellers, CEO of World Games 2022. “The competition will be held in the historic Castle Furnaces, a unique venue steeped in history. In addition, every sport climb tests every athlete physically, mentally and emotionally. It’s going to be a hot ticket.”

So what is sport climbing? It is essentially competitive climbing in which athletes compete against each other on artificial structures.

Three disciplines of sport climbing are part of the World Games 2022:

• speed — This is a duel between two climbers on a 15-meter-high wall that slopes at a 95-degree angle. The winner is the climber who reaches the summit first. Both climbers compete against each other on the same route.
• To lead — Climbers have six minutes to climb as far as possible up a 15-meter-high wall, and each participant gets a chance to climb. If the climber falls, the peak height reached is recorded as a score.
• boulder — With a set time limit, climbers try to climb as many set routes up the wall as possible and score based on the difficulty of the route. This is the only one of the three disciplines that is completed without a safety rope. The walls often have steep overhangs that increase the level of difficulty.

In Birmingham, a total of 72 athletes will compete in the three competitions – 12 men and 12 women in each of the three disciplines.

An artificial climbing structure for sport climbing competitions is being erected at the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham.

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At the Tokyo Olympics, all three disciplines were combined, meaning only one set of medals was awarded for men and one for women.

At the World Games 2022, however, the traditional competition will take place in three different disciplines – on three consecutive days. This means there will be gold, silver and bronze medalists for men and women in each of the three disciplines.

The TWG2022 sport climbing competition features many compelling storylines, including:

• Danyil Boldyrev of Ukraine and Natalia Kalucka of Poland are the fastest mountaineers in the world, they won the 2021 World Speed ​​Championships for both men and women. Both have qualified to participate in TWG 2022.
• Miho Nonaka of Japan, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics, has also qualified to compete in the women’s bouldering event in Birmingham.
• Five Americans qualified – John Brosler and Noah Bratschi in the men’s speed; Emma Hunt in Women’s Speed; Joe Goodacre in men’s bouldering and Cloe Coscoy in women’s bouldering and women’s lead. Can they take home a medal while competing on home soil?
• Legendary Italian climber Stefano Ghisolfi has qualified in the men’s lead. He has won 15 medals in his World Cup climbing career. Can he win gold at TWG 2022?