Sport climbing is booming: St. Wendel is celebrating its premiere in the city!

Sport climbing is booming: St. Wendel is celebrating its premiere in the city!

A special event will take place in St. Wendel on June 27th and 28th, 2025: sport climbing in the city. This is a highlight intended to attract the local climbing scene and further promote enthusiasm for the sport. With the upcoming event, the St. Wendeler Rocklands climbing hall is celebrating its 15th anniversary and shows the ever-growing popularity of sport climbing.

Lukas Kraushaar, state trainer at the Saarland Mountaineering and Skiing Association (SBSB), commented on the development of sport climbing in an interview. He reported that the number of visitors to climbing gyms has noticeably increased, which indicates a real boom phase in this sport. In addition, sport climbing has been an Olympic discipline since 2010, which certainly contributes to the increased attention. The Saarbrücker Zeitung highlights that Eurosport now broadcasts sport climbing competitions, bringing the sport to a wider audience.

Sport climbing and Olympic recognition

Sport climbing's journey to Olympic recognition began in 2010 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially accepted the sport. It is particularly exciting that sport climbing was represented for the first time at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, where athletes competed for medals in a combination of speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing. This was determined by a special overall ranking, which was achieved by multiplying the ranks in the individual competitions. Critics from the climbing community expressed concerns about the differences between sports grouped together in this format. Wikipedia informed that the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will have its own classification for speed climbing, while bouldering and lead will be combined.

At the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, the gold medals for both women and men went to outstanding athletes: Janja Garnbret from Slovenia and Alberto Ginés López from Spain were able to take the lead in the competitions. Benjamin Coleman from the USA and Jakob Schubert from Austria secured the silver and bronze medals in their categories. It is interesting that at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the Boulder, Lead and Speed ​​disciplines will each represent their own competitions.
Sport climbing will receive particular attention with the introduction of paraclimbing in the 2028 Paralympic Games, representing a significant expansion of the program.

A look into the future

The boom in sport climbing continues. The events in St. Wendel are not only a testament to the local enthusiasm, but also a sign of the growing interest in this dynamic sport in general. More and more climbing halls are being built, and the attractiveness of the sport is undisputed. It remains to be seen what talent will emerge in the upcoming competitions and how the sport will continue to develop.