APRIL 2020 FORBES AFRICA| 91FORBESAFRICA
SPORT CLIMBINGFORBESAFRICA.COMPhotos by Eddie Fowke; Photo by Christopher Jue/Getty Images
Climbingis aninstinct
forhumans,everyone
climbsat leasta few
timesin theirlives,
especiallywhenyou
area child,to seethe
worldfroma higher
place.It is oneof the
bestpursuitsformotor
skills.- MarcoScolaris,
President,International
Federationof
Sport Climbing
THREATTOTOKYO?
The 2020 TokyoOlympic
Gamesremainunderthreat
followingthecoronavirus
outbreak,butboththeLocal
OrganisingCommitteeand
theInternationalOlympic
Committee(IOC)haveinsisted,
fornow,thattheGameswillgo
aheadasscheduledfromJuly
24 toAugust9.
Thebiggestthreattoa
successfulGamescouldyet
bethefactthatsomany
qualificationtournamentsare
likelytobecancelledacrossthe
worldinthecomingmonths,
providingathleteswithlittleor
nochance to earn their place in
To k yo.changesomethingthathadworkedforover
a century,butwhichneededsomecosmetic
alterationsintheformofnewsports.
“Wewereinvitedtoshowcaseforthe
2014 YouthOlympicsandtwoyearslater
wereacceptedintothefullSummerOlympic
GamesforTokyo.It is proposedthatwewill
stayforthe 2024 GamesinParis,butthishas
yettobeconfirmedbytheIOCandwillbe
evaluatedafterTokyo.”
Sohowwillit work?Thereareonlytwo
goldmedalsupforgrabs,oneeachinthe
men’sandwomen’scompetitions.
Therewillbe 20 participantsineach
competitionandtheyarechallengedby
threeseparatedisciplines– bouldering,lead
climbingandspeedclimbing.
Thetotalpointsgainedacrossthethree
disciplinesareusedtodeterminewhowill
takehomethegold,silverandbronzemedals.
Boulderingseescompetitorscompete
withoutsupportropes.Theymustnavigate
variousdifferentset-upsandhavefour
minutestocompleteasmanyastheycan.
Leadclimbingseescompetitorstackle
a wallofaround 15 metershigh,withan
overhangofsomesevenmeters.Climbers
mustreacha certainpointwheretheyhook
ontocompletethecourse.
Theyarenotallowedpriorsightofthe
course,ortowatchothercompetitorstake
part,meaningthefirsttimetheyseethewallis
whentheytakepartintheirclimb.
Finally,speedclimbingseescompetitors
navigatea wallthatis setata five-degree
angle,andtheaimis simplytogettothetopin
thequickesttime.
Thisis alsoovera 15-metercourseandthe
worldrecordcurrentlystandsat5.48seconds,
whichmeansa climbofa littleunderthree
meterspersecond.
“Thesportis verywell-developedinthe
UnitedStates,whereit is reallybooming.
ButalsoRussia,China,Japan,SouthKorea,
Germany,Italy,FranceandtheUnited
Kingdom,”Scolarissays.
“Thenwehavesmallercountrieslike
AustriaandSloveniathathavebeenableto
producechampionsinthelastfewyears.
“Itis alsoa sportthathasa traditionof
fullgenderequality,becausesincethevery
beginning,thenumberoffemale athletes is
about the same as the male.”ScolarishopestheirOlympicdebutwill
openthesporttoa wideraudience,inAfrica
andbeyond.
“Therearetwobigbenefitstous
competingattheOlympics,whichis firstlyto
growa passionforthesport.Hopefully,the
nextdayafterourcompetition,a lotofkids
willasktheirparentstotrysportclimbing.
“Secondly,thecommercialexposureto
companies.Everybodywillbewatchingus
andwehopethatcompaniesseethevalue
thatpartneringwithuscanbring,asa sport
thatpromotesgoodmotorskillsanda healthy
lifestyle.
“Thatis importantbecausewedonothave
theresourcesthatothersportsdo.Wewould
liketodomoreinAfrica,butit is difficultfor
ustofundprojects. Hopefully that will change
after Tokyo.”