The IFSC has announced that sport climbing will be present in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Nanjing, China from 17-27 August as a showcased sport.

Great Britain's Jennifer Wood, who is the current junior British Bouldering Champion (2013) was nominated alongside Orrin Coley to represent Great Britain and has been selected by the IFSC to form part of the delegation.

All three disciplines - Lead, Speed and Boulder - will be showcased by an international delegation of athletes, and initiation sessions will be open to the public, supervised by a team of international coaches and route setters!

In December 2013, the recently elected IOC President, Thomas Bach, presented the IFSC with the opportunity to showcase our sport at the YOG in Nanjing 2014. Bach has previously said that the Youth Games could be a testing ground for sports seeking to join the Olympics.

A spectacular, custom-made wall, which will remain in Nanjing as a legacy of the event, will be featured as part of the Nanjing 2014 Sports Lab, an outdoor venue situated 20 minutes on foot from the athletes' Youth Olympic Village, along with three other showcased sports: rollerskating, skateboard, and wushu. 

For ten days of the12-day Games program, spectators will be able to see sport climbers from ten countries - six athletes from China and ten from around the world - climb in the three disciplines of Lead, Speed, and Boulder.

Additionally, local youth and YOG athletes will be able to try out the sport, under the guidance and supervision of two Chinese and two international coaches and route setters. 

The IFSC athlete delegation is composed of eight women and eight men from Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Korea, Russia, South Africa, and the United States of America, who were nominated by their National Federations and selected by the IFSC Executive Board as representing the best of our sport and exemplifying the Olympic values.

IFSC President, Marco Scolaris, noted, “It’s a unique opportunity to showcase the sport, not only to the people in Nanjing and to the young men and women participating, but also to the Olympic movement." 

The IFSC is very excited about this opportunity to promote climbing on a global, Olympic stage.

BMC Competitions Officer Rob Adie said, "This is a great opportunity for the sport and we feel honoured that the BMC was one of the 11 federations chosen to send an athlete. Jen will be a great ambassador for GB Climbing and hopefully it will be great fun as well meeting all the YOG athelets and seeing how exciting the YOG is - be sure to let us know how it went when you get back Jen!"

Find out more:

Meet the Youth Olympic Games Sport Climbing Delegation: Part 1

Visit the IFSC website find out how to connect with the Youth Olympic Games on social media

Meet the GB Junior climbing team

Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games

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