Olympics

Sport Climbing at the Olympics: Women's and Men's Finals Results

Slovenia's Janja Garnbret dominates womens' field to claim gold, Japan's Miho Nonakaand Akiyo Noguchi take silver and bronze. Spaniard Alberto Gines Lopez wins men's gold, American Nathaniel Coleman claims silver and Adam Ondra finishes 6th.

by Chase Gaewski and Timmy Huynh
Updated Aug. 6, 2021
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Gold – Janja Garnbret, Slovenia

Garnbret continued her dominance and placed first in both bouldering and lead to cement her place as the inaugural women's sports climbing gold medalist.

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Silver – Miho Nonaka, Japan

Nonaka's top three finishes in speed and bouldering offset her surprisingly low fifth place finish in lead to earn the silver.

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Bronze – Akiyo Noguchi, Japan

Noguchi finished fourth in all three disciplines to grab the bronze medal in what she has said would be her last competition.

Yara Nardi/Reuters

Fifth place – Brooke Raboutou, U.S.

Raboutou's second ranked bouldering performance was not enough to get her onto the podium. Her disappointing sixth and seventh place finishes in lead and speed were too much to overcome.

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Gold – Alberto Gines Lopez, Spain

Starting strong with a first place finish in speed, Gines Lopez was able to overcome his seventh place finish in bouldering with a fourth place lead climb to claim the inaugural men's sport climbing gold.

Tsuyoshi Ueda/Associated Press

Silver – Nathaniel Coleman, U.S.

Coleman was the only climber to complete two of the three problems, earning him the top spot in boulder. A fifth place finish in lead and sixth place finish in speed earned him the silver medal.

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Bronze – Jakob Schubert, Austria

After fifth place boulder and seventh place speed finishes, Schubert needed to climb well in lead to finish on the podium. He was the only climber to reach the top, earning him the bronze medal after the final climb of the competition.

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Sixth Place – Adam Ondra, Czech Republic

Even with a surprising top four finish in speed, Ondra was not able to overcome a sixth place boulder finish. With Schubert earning the top lead ranking after topping out, Ondra was bumped off the podium.

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One Event, Three Disciplines

Sport climbing is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo. The athletes will compete in three disciplines: speed, bouldering and lead. One set of medals will be awarded to men and women, respectively.

Pictured: Jan Hojer, Germany

Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters

In each event, the climbers will be ranked by their performance and receive a point value for their placement. The scores from the three disciplines will be multiplied together, with the lowest total point value winning--similar to golf.

Pictured: Colin Duffy, United States

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Speed Climbing

In speed, the climbers race to the top of a 15-meter, or roughly 50-foot, wall. The climbing holds have standardized placement, so the same route is followed across competitions. The men's world record is 5.208 seconds and the women's is 6.96 seconds.

Jasmin Walter/GEPA/Zuma Press

Bouldering

In bouldering, climbers attempt to scale several short and technical routes, referred to as problems. The 4.5-meter, or about 15-foot, climbs present physical and mental challenges.

Pictured: Janja Garnbret, Slovenia

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The climbers are ranked based on how many times they reach the "top" hold of each problem in the fewest attempts. They also receive partial credit for reaching the "zone" hold on any problems they can't complete.

Pictured: Adam Ondra, Czech Republic

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Lead Climbing

In lead, climbers have one attempt to scale a route on a 15-meter wall. They have 6 minutes to try to climb as high as they can. Lead requires technical skill as well as endurance for the lengthier climb, which becomes increasingly more difficult.

Pictured: Jakob Schubert, Austria

Patrick Steiner/GEPA/ZUMA Press

Each hold is numbered from bottom to top, 1 at the start, and the climbers are ranked on how far they progress, and at which hold they fall, in the least amount of time. In qualification, the top-ranked climbers reached the 40th and 42nd holds.

Pictured: Miho Nonaka, Japan

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Speed’s Controversial Inclusion

Many climbers aren’t happy about the inclusion of speed in the combined event. Speed climbing relies heavily on pure athleticism, while boulder and lead have problem-solving aspects.

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The Paris 2024 Olympics will include two separate climbing events. Speed will receive its own medal and lead and bouldering will have a combined medal.

Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press

See more Olympics coverage from The Wall Street Journal

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