Following consultation amongst the BMC Areas, the BMC National Council agreed (in September 2009) that the BMC would support the idea of climbing becoming an Olympic sport. This support will be based on competitions taking place on artificial structures only.

The decision means that the BMC can retain its membership of the IFSC and the UIAA, both of which include in their statutes the objective of getting climbing into the Olympics.

At an international level, the ball is now the IFSC's court to lobby for Olympic inclusion, while at a national level the BMC will be investigating what it can do to influence the process. The question is just what form the Olympic sport would be and what aspects would it involve – lead, speed and/or bouldering?

The earliest that climbing could be chosen by the Olympic Committee is for the 2020 Olympics. Golf and rugby sevens have only just been voted on to the programme for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, we could be looking at another four years before we know whether climbing will get Olympic status for 2020.
 

Read UKClimbing.com article on Competitions, Funding, the Olympics and the BMC

Read Ed Douglas's article in Summit 54 (Summer 09)

Read Lucy Creamer's article in Psyched issue 1

« Back