In May this year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board will decide among eight candidate sports to recommend one new sport for the 2020 Summer Olympics. A final vote will take place in September. Over the coming months, wrestling, baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, rock climbing, squash, sport climbing, and wushu will battle fiercely to compete for a place in the Olympics.
According to the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC), after wrestling was dropped from the core sports program for the 2020 Olympics, wrestling powerhouses such as Russia, Italy, Iran, and the United States exerted significant pressure on the IOC. In recent days, IOC President Jacques Rogge has been overwhelmed and fell ill.
Yesterday, the 8th General Assembly of the IFSC was held in Shanghai. IFSC President Gian Franco Kasper told reporters that rock climbing holds strong advantages in the race for Olympic inclusion: “In 2009, rock climbing was recognized as an official sport by the IOC. To be shortlisted as an Olympic candidate just a few years later is almost a miracle. In fact, climbing is as fundamental a human skill as running or swimming, and the Olympics currently lacks any climbing discipline or vertical airborne events. Rock climbing would make the Olympics whole.”
Li Zhixin, President of the Chinese Mountaineering Association and newly elected Vice President of the IFSC, believes the biggest disadvantage for rock climbing’s Olympic bid is its youth — many people still don’t know much about it. However, the sport is very appealing to young people, and even if it doesn’t make the 2020 Olympics, it still stands a good chance for the 2024 or 2028 Games.
Many Chinese sports fans may not realize that China is already a rock climbing powerhouse. The country leads the world in speed climbing, having set both the men’s and women’s world records, and Chinese male athletes have won the world speed climbing title four times in a row. However, in lead climbing and bouldering, China still lags behind other nations.
Li Zhixin said that if rock climbing enters the Olympics, “our Chinese athletes will need to show what they can do — and we won’t let anyone down.” But for now, the Chinese Mountaineering Association is more focused on promoting climbing among young people. Currently, China has tens of thousands of rock climbing enthusiasts, and thousands of clubs across the country offer climbing activities, mainly concentrated in Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta regions.
Yesterday, the 2013 Shanghai University Students’ Elite Rock Climbing Challenge, hosted by the Shanghai Mountaineering Association and the Shanghai University Rock Climbing Association, was also held in Shanghai. Nearly 100 university students from 17 institutions, including Tongji University and Fudan University, took part.