Over the past 20 years, sport climbing has grown so much in popularity that 39% of climbers are under the age of 18, as per an Olympics report. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the sport made its debut in a mixed-gender event. It is carried out inside on specially constructed climbing walls and tests an athlete's ability to ascend vertical walls quickly.
An event known as "SportRoccia," which took place in Bardonecchia, Italy, in 1985, brought together a group of climbers and became the first organized lead event where climbers had to climb within a set time limit. This eventually became sport climbing. By 1991, world championships began under the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).
During the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, sport climbing made its Olympic debut and was later added to the Olympic program as a new sport for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Sport climbing is scheduled to be one of the four additional Olympic sports in Paris in 2024 and will also be included in the Olympic Games scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028.
The List of Olympic Medalists of Team USA in Sport Climbing
Slovenia and Spain lead the all-time medal table in sport climbing, having each won a gold medal. Japan is the third nation on the table with a silver and a bronze medal, followed by the United States with a silver medal. The last NOC is Austria, with a bronze medal.
| Year | Event | Athlete(s) | Medal |
| 2020 | Combined, Men | Nathaniel Coleman | Silver |
Nathaniel Coleman, a native of Utah, won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, after becoming the first American male to qualify for the Olympics in sport climbing in the Toulouse qualifiers in 2019.
According to Team USA, Coleman experimented with almost every sport as a young child, including four-square, football, and soccer; between the ages of nine and eleven, he learned about sport climbing and got hooked on it.
A 14-year-old Coleman placed fourth at the Youth Bouldering Nationals, and a decade later, Coleman won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He also won the USA Climbing Youth Bouldering Nationals from 2012 to 2016 and was referred to by his teammates as "The Captain."
"The Captain" nickname has stuck with him since he was 18 years old when he debuted at the 2015 World Cup in Toronto and went against climbers like Adam Ondra and Jan Hojer. He led the bouldering discipline and overcame an early loss in the speed competition to take silver overall.
FAQ's On Olympic Medalists in Sport Climbing
A. Yes, sport climbing is one of the 32 sports held at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A. Yes, sport climbing is an Olympic sport; it debuted at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A. Given the dangers sport climbing involves, it can be considered an extreme sport, but its dangers are also reduced with the level of physical and mental training the sport requires.
A. Yes, sport climbing is included on the schedule for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
A. Athletes will climb a single route in each round (qualifying, semi-finals, and finals), earning points for successfully holding the top 40 holds; more holds lead to more points.
