IFSC Climbing World Championships 2021 - Preview, Schedule, and How to Watch

Get ready for an athletic bonanza as sport climbing rolls into Moscow, Russia for the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships.

Fresh from the sport's successful Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where some scintillating action gained plenty of new fans, many of the world's best climbers will lock horns once again on 16-21 September at the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace.

The event will also serve as the final leg of this year's lead World Cup circuit.

There will be plenty of Olympians on show like men's bronze medallist Jakob Schubert, as well as some up-and-coming climbing stars looking to gain valuable experience with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games just three years away.

Below, we take a look at the key athletes to watch out for, the event schedule, and how to stream the action live on Olympics.com.

Athletes to watch out for

Sport climbing's first-ever women's Olympic champion Janja Garnbret has decided to skip the event, sighting the need for a break following her Lead World Cup win in Kranj last week. This means the floor is wide open for a new world champion in all three events in Moscow.

Leading the charge is Korean Olympic finallist Chaehyun Seo, who will be hoping to improve upon her second place in the lead event in Kranj.

Elsewhere, another Olympic finallist in Austria’s Jessica Pilz is more than capable of winning such an event after sealing the 2018 lead world title, and has entered all three disciplines.

USA's Natalia Grossman is also in red-hot form, and will be quietly confident of a good performance in the bouldering and lead.

As the current World Cup leader, Grossman's compatriot Emma Hunt is the favourite to take the speed, and will be pushed all the way by Poland's Patrycja Chudziak and two-time world champion Aleksandra Miroslaw.

In the men’s draw, the absence of 'Spanish Spiderman' Alberto Gines Lopez - who won a shock Olympic gold in Tokyo - means that Olympic bronze medallist Jakob Schubert is the one to watch across all disciplines.

There will be a fierce competition in the bouldering, where USA's Sean Bailey, three-time World Cup winner Tomoa Narasaki from Japan, and current World Cup leader Stefano Ghisolfi from Italy are all major medal threats.

In speed, blink and you'll miss Poland's Marcin Dzienski, the 2016 world champion and four-time World Cup winner.

For a full line up of the athletes competing, click here.

How to watch the event live online...

Olympic Channel is streaming all semi-finals and finals from World Championships in Moscow, and you can follow the action live online via Olympics.com right here.

Schedule (UTC+3)

Thursday 16 September

12:15 PM Men's & Women's Speed qualifications
8:00 PM Men's & Women's Speed finals

Friday 17 September

10:00 AM Men's & Women's Boulder qualifications

Saturday 18 September

10:00 AM Women's Boulder semi-final
6:00 PM Women's Boulder final

Sunday 19 September

10:00 AM Men's Boulder semi-final
6:00 PM Men's Boulder final

Monday 20 September

10:00 AM Men's & Women's Lead qualifications

Tuesday 21 September

10:00 AM Men's & Women's Lead semi-finals
8:00 PM Men's Lead final
9:00 PM Women's Lead final