Sounds like a move in the right direction.
Hopefully the IOC will agree with the proposal
Yes half way there.
So speed climbing would essentially become an Olympic sport in its own right? Haha. I see they are also looking at breakdancing. Not sure which is more silly. I certainly would much rather watch breakdancing than speed climbing but it's a fairly weird to think of it as a competitive sport. But then they do have horse dancing as a sport so what do I know.
I think while speed climbing is quite silly when seen in the climbing context it fits the Olympics quite well. After all, the track and field competitions are somewhat contrived as well. Speed climbing feels certainly more like short track or hurdles that lead climbing.
Aye I do agree but I the thing with speed climbing is that just not many people do it. It's a weird niche in climbing. For it to become an Olympic sport in own right with an equal medal haul to lead/boulder combined is really weird. I expect if it makes it in, in like 20 years it will mostly be won by athletes with a track and field background rather than a climbing background. High jumpers, sprinters will probably better suited to it than climbers.
Would be good to see lead and bouldering split too seeing as they really are three separate disciplines. Athletes would then be able to compete in as many of the disciplines as they like (providing they meet qualification criteria).
As it stands with just speed on it's own it feels like there should be more than just the 20 competitors in lead and bouldering combined. Perhaps they could expand to 32, so double the 16 speed athletes.
Either way, lets hope it goes down well in Tokyo which would then give weight to any arguments to expand/improve in future.
Hearty congratulations to FFME for being so persuasive. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this isn’t a premature leak.
Lets be honest, people only watch F1 and downhill skiing for the crashes and wipe-out potential.
Yes, a trad FA big wall category, set in, say, Baffin Island would be good. Points given to the longest and hardest lines, aid moves lose points. I wouldn't like to see it like speed climbing, but I guess you could possibly limit the number of days allowed.
Having speed climbing in the same category as the other two disciplines never made sense. Great step I think we can all be happy with.
> Hearty congratulations to FFME for being so persuasive. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this isn’t a premature leak.
Wouldn't you be better off crossing your legs?
> Would be good to see lead and bouldering split too seeing as they really are three separate disciplines. Athletes would then be able to compete in as many of the disciplines as they like (providing they meet qualification criteria).
Agree, and it's the next obvious move. But `interesting' that they've already seemed - even before Tokyo - to have recognized the oddity of combing speed with lead/bouldering. And not to have yet recognized the persisting oddity in keeping lead and bouldering combined for Paris...
One foothold at a time ...
They have to take other events, number of athletes, organisation and medals into account. It's not as easy as adding another set of medals for another discipline.
Then next step after that would be DWS. A lead wall over the diving pool, once they're finished with the swimming/diving would probably get the most non-climbing viewers.
If number of medals is a problem then they could just leave out speed climbing. Nobody does it anyway. The largest climbing gym in Denmark (and Northern Europe they say) had a speed wall, but they took down the speed holds and replaced them with normal holds for that reason.
> If number of medals is a problem then they could just leave out speed climbing. Nobody in Denmark does it anyway.
FTFY
You are right of course. I have seen it at a WC in Chamonix. Quite boring compared to the lead comp.
> You are right of course. I have seen it at a WC in Chamonix. Quite boring compared to the lead comp.
I completely agree. It used to be much more fun to watch, in the days when the route was different for each event, as that led to times getting faster through each round as climbers refined their sequence. But seeing finals won in slower times than qualifiers will never be a recipe for thrilling viewing.
> If number of medals is a problem then they could just leave out speed climbing. Nobody does it anyway. The largest climbing gym in Denmark (and Northern Europe they say) had a speed wall, but they took down the speed holds and replaced them with normal holds for that reason.
Hopefully, with "proper" climbers no longer having to do Speed to compete, interest in Speed will quickly fade and other walls will follow suit; the Speed wall at Ratho could be put to much better use.
I still think that squash deserves a place in the Olympics far more than climbing...
> Aye I do agree but I the thing with speed climbing is that just not many people do it. It's a weird niche in climbing. For it to become an Olympic sport in own right with an equal medal haul to lead/boulder combined is really weird. I expect if it makes it in, in like 20 years it will mostly be won by athletes with a track and field background rather than a climbing background. High jumpers, sprinters will probably better suited to it than climbers.
I'd have thought retired/failed Pole Vaulters or Gymnasts would be more likely. High Jumpers have negligible upper body strength, and sprinters are too bulky - both have zero hand strength.
Gymnasts! Every time I see one climbing for the first time I’m baffled. To a certain extent that goes for ballet dancers as well. What balance and body awareness.
> If number of medals is a problem then they could just leave out speed climbing. Nobody does it anyway. The largest climbing gym in Denmark (and Northern Europe they say) had a speed wall, but they took down the speed holds and replaced them with normal holds for that reason.
Lots of people speed climb, actually!
> Gymnasts! Every time I see one climbing for the first time I’m baffled. To a certain extent that goes for ballet dancers as well. What balance and body awareness.
And core strength!
Jack Longland attributed his success on Javelin Blade to pole vaulting
> Lots of people speed climb, actually!
Yes, I've done it myself, and on granite it was quite fun. On a WC approved speed wall, however, it was dull. Maybe I'm just too damn slow and too damn outdoorsy.
> Then next step after that would be DWS. A lead wall over the diving pool, once they're finished with the swimming/diving would probably get the most non-climbing viewers.
Genius idea! With extra points for the dive element. Kills two birds with one stone.
And surely more so than break-prancing.
Define lots? I mean it's fairly niche even in the climbing world. So in a general sense not many people speed climb. I'd guess it's at the bottom or roundabouts in the list of all olympic sports in terms of participation. Just a guess tho, I could well be wrong.
I haven’t read all the comments, just whole Olympic thing is leaving me cold. Initially I thought it would be could for climbing but the more I hear the more I think it’s going to influence climbing in a negative way.
It might be niche for Western world but it seems pretty big in Russia, Poland and Asia.
Looks like kids in the US are also getting into it.
Probably for the best that they split from lead and bouldering though. Speed specialists are really impressive but have virtually no chance of going through the combine event...
BTW, if you've not seen it, check out Adam Ondra's `Road to Tokyo' series on youtube. He promises a new upload every week from now to the Olympics.
Who? Where? Which countries? I've never, ever seen it or a wall set up for it, or any media for it or any sponsorship adverts or any competitions relating to it (and I've traveled/climbed/live in a lot of countries around the world).
It is more niche than no-handed slab climbing...
Awesome walls in Sheffield has a speed wall, i'm sure there must be others.
> Who? Where? Which countries? I've never, ever seen it or a wall set up for it, or any media for it or any sponsorship adverts or any competitions relating to it (and I've traveled/climbed/live in a lot of countries around the world).
> It is more niche than no-handed slab climbing...
You could do a lot worse than look at the ifsc website and have a look at the results section; that will give you a flavour of who does it.
Or visit EICA Ratho, ROF59 (Newton Aycliffe, nr Durham), or Awesome Walls Sheffield to see an actual speed wall. Apologies to any in the UK I have missed out.
Since 2010, EICA Ratho have hosted the world youth champs twice and a world cup event.
Great news. I wonder what having to spread training over 3 disciplines has done to atheletes both physically and mentally. It must be playing havoc with some of the more mature bodies
> seeing finals won in slower times than qualifiers will never be a recipe for thrilling viewing.
Surely that's no more of a problem than for other athletics events that have heats and finals like the 100m sprint?
Several of them have done all 3 disciplines anyway. Sean McColl, Anouck Jaubert, and in the last couple of years Jan Hojer to name 3. Sure, theres a different emphasis on the 3 disciplines, but athletes of their stature and experience can cope!
> > seeing finals won in slower times than qualifiers will never be a recipe for thrilling viewing.
> Surely that's no more of a problem than for other athletics events that have heats and finals like the 100m sprint?
Except that the format of the speed climbing event doesn't allow for full recovery between rounds. Maybe a way around it would be to have no more than 2 rounds a day, but if that were the case I'd be pretty sure it would be even less of a spectacle.
As an aside, is there any recognised Olympic speed-based event with a world record time less than 5.48 seconds, or is climbing the fastest? I have a vague recollection that rope-climbing (once an Olympic event, apparently) was discontinued partly because it was becoming hard to measure times of just a few seconds. Is there any substantive difference between speed climbing and rope climbing?
> Except that the format of the speed climbing event doesn't allow for full recovery between rounds. Maybe a way around it would be to have no more than 2 rounds a day, but if that were the case I'd be pretty sure it would be even less of a spectacle.
Oh, I see, I'd missed that detail. I've only ever seen the odd clip of speed climbing, never a whole event. Thanks for explaining.
I was thinking more from the perspective of atheletes who have been involved in bouldering and/or lead and then incorporating another element. From a time to train properly perspective alone I see it all as a huge compromise and possibly going to inflict injuries on athletes whose bodies are not conditioned for explosive events like this. Watch any sprinting event and you always see hamstrings popping left right and centre. I wonder what changing in someone’s training schedule will result in short and long term.
Anyhow, it’s now separated off and in my eyes it’s a good thing
> Who? Where? Which countries? I've never, ever seen...any media for it...
See 'Up To Speed', part of Reel Rock 13.