BURSTThe Qualification Process for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games has been released. There is a lot of hype for the third appearance of climbing in the Olympic Games, as it will be the first time that each discipline – Boulder, Lead, and Speed – receives its own category and medal.
For the first time, climbing will appear as a program sport. In its inaugural year in Tokyo 2020, climbing was an “additional sport”, meaning the host city added it. That year, Boulder, Lead, and Speed were combined into a single discipline, and all climbers were required to compete in all three. Of course, this was hard on climbers. Boulder and Lead athletes tend to be pretty slow speed climbers. Likewise, the top Speed climbers are typically not known for their bouldering or lead climbing skills.
In Paris in 2024, climbing was still categorized as an additional sport, but it was expanded. This time, Speed was separated from Boulder and Lead. The newest iteration of Olympic climbing, as it will appear in LA, is largely preferred by athletes. But two-time Olympic gold medallist Janja Garnbret made what most would view as an outlandish statement when she revealed in an interview with Gripped that she would enjoy a return of the Tokyo format.
“Of course, I would like separate disciplines,” said Garnbret. “Speed, lead, and bouldering separate, and then I would also add combined—but the old combined format from Tokyo…I mean, why not? Who is the best overall in lead, boulder and speed? That would be interesting. Honestly, I’ve had fun with all kinds of formats. Before, for Tokyo, I cannot say that I didn’t like training speed. When I started it, I could see the moves getting smoother, my time going down, and it’s a different game, so I enjoyed training it. But of course, for Paris, I could train what I’ve been training my whole life, so it was great. But I would love to see everybody show how good they are in their primary discipline and then also in combined—it would be fun.”
While athletes now have the opportunity to focus on their speciality, there is the possibility of cross-qualification for LA. A total of 76 climbers will vie for medals in the three disciplines: a minimum of 12 men and 12 women will compete in Boulder and Lead each, while Speed will have a maximum of 14 men and 14 women. Each country will have a limit of two climbers per gender category per discipline, with the total number of athletes never exceeding 76 across all disciplines.
However, the number of competing athletes in Boulder and Lead can increase if a climber qualifies in both disciplines. Their spot will only count as one of the 76 permitted for the sport, as determined by the International Olympic Committee. Still, only two climbers from the same country are permitted to compete. The cross-qualification does not affect Speed.
The qualifying events are as follows:
- European Games, Istanbul, Turkey, June 2027 [dates TBA]
- Pan American Games, Lima, Peru, July 2027 [dates TBA]
- World Climbing Championship – Brno, Czechia, August 2027
- World Climbing Africa Qualifier [location and dates TBA]
- World Climbing Asia Qualifier [location and dates TBA]
- World Climbing Oceania Qualifier [location and dates TBA]
- Olympic Qualifier Series 2028 – [three event series, location and dates TBA]
Qualifying Event Details:
The Continental Multisport Games will be held from June to July 2027. There will be two events: the European Games in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2027 and the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, in July 2027. At each of these two events, the highest-placed athlete in each gender category in each discipline (Boulder, Lead, and Speed) will earn their ticket to the Olympics.
For all subsequent events, if the highest-placed athlete has already qualified for the Olympics, the next highest-placed climber will receive their Olympic ticket.
In August 2027, the World Climbing Championship will take place in Brno, Czechia. Here, the quota will be one person per gender category for each climbing discipline (Boulder, Lead, and Speed).
The World Climbing Continental Qualifiers will take place next, with three events: World Climbing Africa Qualifier, World Climbing Asia Qualifier, and World Climbing Oceania Qualifier. The highest-placed athlete from each qualifier will receive their ticket: one person per gender category in each climbing discipline (Boulder, Lead, and Speed).
And finally, there will be the Olympic Qualifier Series. The OQS will include three events, with dates and locations TBA. At the end of the final event, four Olympic tickets in each gender category will be awarded for Boulder and Lead. There will be six tickets in each gender category for Speed.
There are two other opportunities to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games. The first is the Host Country option. If the host country, in this case, the United States, does not have an athlete who has qualified for the Olympics in one of the aforementioned events, the United States will be allocated one place per gender category for Boulder, Lead and Speed, as long as it has athletes who meet the eligibility criteria.
The other qualifying opportunity is Universality Places, of which there is a quota of one person per gender category. Universality places are Olympic quota spots reserved for countries that are typically underrepresented in climbing. All eligible National Olympic Committees are invited to submit their requests for universality places on October 1, 2027. After the qualification events have concluded, one person from each gender category for Boulder, Lead, and Speed will receive their Olympic ticket as determined by the Tripartite Commission.
Summary of Events and Quota Places:
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