An event making its first appearance at the Olympics this year, sport climbing is an event that requires players to use various ways to hold and hook their hands and feet to different shapes on fixtures attached to a specially built wall. Sport climbing is categorized into three categories; speed, bouldering and lead.

Speed climbing is a head-to-head competition between two climbers on identical walls with the fastest up the 12-meter wall winning.

In bouldering, athletes have four minutes to climb various fixed routes on a 4½-meter wall. Credits are given for a climber reaching the top hold of a climb. If a climber does not make the top, credit is given for reaching a “zone hold” about halfway up a boulder. Climbers may make multiple attempts, but climbers completing their climbs in fewer attempts are scored higher.

In the lead event, competitors try to climb as high as they can on a 12-meter wall in six minutes. Depending on the category, players are allowed safety ropes but no other climbing equipment are allowed and the athletes must rely on their physical strength and skill.

To add to the difficulty in the bouldering and lead events, the climbers are not allowed to watch other climbers, practice or even see the wall until just before their turn to climb.

Sport climbing will be held from Aug. 3 to 6.

Venue and access information

Located near the Athletes’ Village, Aomi Urban Sports Venue will serve as a temporary location for the Olympic Games. Hosting up to 8,400 people, the venue is about eight minutes from Tokyo Teleport Station on the Rinkai Line.