Sport Climbing has officially been included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28) following a vote at an IOC Session during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

In December 2021, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that Sport Climbing be included in the full programme of 28 sports for LA28 (UKC News), where it is expected to consist of three separate medal events - Speed, Boulder and Lead. The disciplines in each sport will be finalised prior to the IOC Session in 2023, in consultation with LA28 and international federations.

The success of Sport Climbing's debut at Tokyo 2020 — where it became the top trending Olympic sport in Google Search on day 11/day 12 of the Games Worldwide — helped to secure its inclusion in the list of proposed sports alongside Skateboarding and Surfing, two sports which also made their Olympic debut in Tokyo and are now confirmed for LA28.

To celebrate the inclusion of Sport Climbing in the initial sports programme of LA28, Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nathaniel Coleman of the USA designed a new LA28 emblem.

"Sport climbing has taught me so much over the years, from complex problem solving to comradery and the devoted communities that are built because of it," he commented in a press release. "It's really validating for climbing to be embraced by the Olympics and I hope we're able to translate that sense of local community to the global stage for fans at the LA28 Games."

Ahead of LA28, Sport Climbing will feature in the Paris 2024 Games, where 68 athletes will compete in a different format to those of Tokyo 2020 or LA28, involving 12 medals split between a combined Lead & Boulder discipline and a separate Speed event.

Check out our Tokyo 2020 Olympics page to relive our live Tweet updates and reports from the ground at the Games.