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Rockcity Climbing Holds are going to Tokyo 2020 Press Release

Ai Mori - IFSC CLIMBING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, HACHIOJI (JPN) 2019 Photo - Hiroaki Yamamoto

This week the IFSC has released its Catalogue T20: The official holds, macros and volumes for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The Catalogue T20 contains every hold, macro and volume that will be used next year in Tokyo. Rockcity Climbing Holds has made this exclusive list alongside the worlds leading producers.

Having significantly left its mark on the 2019 IFSC calendar, Rockcity has rapidly shown some great innovations and styles that both the IFSC setters and competitors alike have appreciated. This was a major contributing factor to the selection of Rockcity Climbing Holds for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Rockcity Climbing Holds is the UK's only brand to represent the UK on the wall at The Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 for both the category of Macros, and for Volumes. At a time when our industry has changed so much and with so much more to happen in the next few years we are excited to see the style of climbing within the UK gyms constantly changing and keeping it fresh.

Mina Markovič - IFSC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS , EDINBURGH (UK) 2019 Photo - Euan Ryan - Finalcrux Films

With the Games being just around the corner, Catalogue T20 contains a full list of the holds, macros and volumes selected for the following purposes/events at the Aomi Urban Sports Park in Tokyo, Japan, where the Tokyo 2020 Sport Climbing events are set to take place:

  • Test Event (March 2020)
  • Athletes' Official Training Sessions (July – August 2020)
  • Warm Up and Sport Initiation Walls (July – August 2020)
  • Main competition walls for Lead & Bouldering (August 2020)

A wide range of Holds, Macros and Volumes is necessary for fair and versatile routesetting in the field of play. Due to their importance on Sport Climbing's impartiality and quality, the IFSC created the Official Sport Equipment Catalogue in 2019 with the aim of making the field of play fairer across international Sport Climbing events. Interested brands from the 2019 Catalogue were then invited in an open call to apply for the Catalogue T20.

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Alex Megos - IFSC CLIMBING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, HACHIOJI (JPN) 2019 Photo - Hiroaki Yamamoto

To ensure that brands received an equal chance of selection for Catalogue T20, the IFSC Executive Board appointed a routesetter advisor whose professional criteria includes strong analytical skills, a long history of collaboration with IFSC and no business association with any brand of holds. The IFSC received a total 15 applications, and evaluated more than 5,000 shapes. The selection process was based on:

  • Objective criteria (45%)
    • Quality of the product: Durability, materials
    • Production location
    • Innovation: Preferred brands with history of innovation and development
    • Design and shape: Variety of models and shapes, and/or modular solutions
  • Event-specific criteria (45%)
    Creation of a full set of holds, macros, volumes meant for the highest quality competitions which:
    • Should have a large variety of shapes allowing versatile routesetting
    • Should make sense in its entirety
    • Should be fit for the highest-level of competition climbing
    • Should encompass both Lead and Bouldering competitions
    • Should fit the specific profiles of the Tokyo 2020 walls
    • Should match the Tokyo 2020 look of the Games
    • Should be used for training and other competitions
  • Brand's distribution channels (ability to ship to most IFSC Member Federations) (5%)
  • Brand's competition experience (5%)

All brands included in Catalogue T20 are IFSC Authorised Holds, Macros, and Volumes Producers of the Official Sport Equipment Catalogue 2019.

Furthermore, working closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) on the preparation and organisation of sport equipment for the Tokyo 2020 Games, the IFSC will ensure that only holds, macros and volumes featured in Catalogue T20 are used at the above events. Subsequently, IFSC routesetters will create athletes' field of play by selecting amongst items listed in Catalogue T20, so as to guarantee the highest quality of the Sport Climbing competitions at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

With the release of Catalogue T20 several months ahead of the Games, athletes and National Federations are thus offered the opportunity to train on the exact equipment to be used in the Tokyo 2020 Sport Climbing events. As such, the same conditions are guaranteed for all athletes, promoting fairness within the competition.

"We want all of our athletes competing in the Games to share the exact same experience, which is why the IFSC is excited to release the Catalogue T20 ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, giving our athletes the chance to see, touch and train on the holds in advance. Making such an opportunity available in advance the Games is highly important in the perspective of sport equity. The IFSC would like to thank all participating brands for their commitment and contribution to Sport Climbing's journey to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," says IFSC Sport Director Silvia Verdolini.

'We are super excited to be included within this elite small group or brands that have been selected. We worked incredibly hard to produce a series of shapes that were innovative shapes and ideas that would satisfy the highest level of competition route setting and competition climbing. We collaborated with several IFSC route setters to finalise this range and we have continued to work with them on new developments that will ensure the Olympic Games are as exciting as possible' Mark English, Rockcity Climbing Holds.

The Rockcity T20 collection is available exclusively through Serious Climbing Distribution or by contacting Rockcity Climbing Holds directly.


For more information Rockcity Climbing Holds



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