Finally! Climbing Will Have 3 Medal Categories at 2028 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee Board announced this week that it plans to split up the lead and boulder climbing disciplines in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Compared to Paris 2024, the 2028 Olympics will admit nearly 12% more climbing athletes—76, instead of 68—and offer three additional climbing medals.

Sport climbing’s Olympic presence has come a long way since its 2021 debut. In the Tokyo Olympics, the three disciplines of lead, boulder, and speed were awkwardly combined into one super discipline that required athletes to compete across all disciplines. The combined format proved a massive challenge for some specialized climbers. For example, in Tokyo, Adam Ondra took second in lead, but placed fourth in speed and sixth in boulder. For a moment, it looked like Ondra would win gold, but the frustrating math was such that Alberto Ginés López took the gold by placing first in speed, seventh in boulder, and fourth in lead. (Scores were determined by multiplying the scoring results of each discipline.)

In 2024, things improved: the IOC separated the hyper-specialized discipline of speed climbing, but kept lead and boulder lumped together. The climbing community—and our editorial staff—still felt that none of these disciplines ought to be grouped together.

According to the International Federation of Sport Climbing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) explained that specific athlete quotas for the 2028 Games across the three events will “be finalized in the Olympic Qualification System.” This will also clarify whether climbers can compete in multiple events.

“I’m really excited about the news that all three disciplines will be separate at the 2028 Summer Olympics,” says Natalia Grossman, who competed in the lead/boulder event in 2024. “From the very beginning, the community has been pushing for three sets of medals—and now we’ve finally got them!”

Jesse Grupper, who also competed in lead/boulder in the 2024 Games, felt similarly. “Since climbing first became a discipline in the Olympics, this event has always pushed athletes to conform to the disciplines decided on by the Olympics,” says Grupper. “This marks a new era where the core disciplines of climbing are determining what happens at the Olympics and not the other way round. As an athlete with a focus in lead, I’m over the moon to have an opportunity to vie for a spot to do what I love on the biggest stage in the world.”

Another exciting development in Olympic climbing is the debut of paraclimbing at the 2028 Games. Significant groundwork has already been laid in establishing classifications for the rollout of paralympic climbing in Los Angeles.

In addition to its announcement regarding the new climbing format on Wednesday, the IOC revealed a number of other changes for the LA 2028 Games. The stated goal of these changes is to achieve better gender parity. For example, the number of women’s football (soccer) teams increased to 16, while the quota for men’s soccer teams decreased to 12, swinging the gender imbalance in the other direction. The IOC also announced a new weight class for women boxers, and added five new sports, including cricket, flag football, and lacrosse.