IFSC Speed European Qualifier Rome 2023: Preview, full schedule and how to watch live action

On 15 September, the Italian capital will host the first of five Paris 2024 Continental Qualifying events in the fastest sport climbing discipline. Competitors will vie for two quota spots, one per gender, and you can catch all the live action on Olympics.com and the official Olympics app.

3 minBy Lorena Garcia Encabo

Sport Climbing

Bassa Mawem of France during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

(Photo by Pool/Getty Images)

The Foro Italico in Rome, an iconic venue during the 1960 Olympics, will host the first of five Continental Qualifiers for speed climbing.

During the IFSC European Qualifier, two quota spots for Paris 2024, one for gender, will be at stake for the fastest sport climbing event at the Games.

This competition closely follows the Sport Climbing World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, where Long Jinbao from the People's Republic of China, Italy’s Matteo Zurloni, Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, and the USA’s Emma Hunt secured the first Olympic spots in this discipline.

While these four athletes earned nominative quotas, National Olympic Committees hold exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games. Therefore, the participation of athletes in the Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation in Paris 2024.

You can watch the action live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.

IFSC Speed European Qualifier Rome 2023: Stars To Watch

The Sport Climbing speed event will make its debut at Paris 2024, featuring a total of 24 athletes (12 per gender) competing in Le Bourget.

Women’s world record holder (6.25 seconds!) Aleksandra Miroslaw will chase a qualifying spot in Rome, after finishing third at the World Championships. The Pole already competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she secured fourth place overall. Now, the speed specialist is fully focused on the speed event.

Also hailing from Poland, twins Aleksandra and Natalia Kalucka, will be her main rivals, while local fans will cheer for home favourites Beatrice Colli and Giulia Randi.

In the men’s competition, all eyes will on France’s Bassa Mawem. The speed specialist, who competes alongside his brother Mickael, holds the men’s Olympic record with 5.45 seconds. After reaching the finals at Tokyo 2020, he couldn’t compete due to an injury and he's now striving to secure a spot in his second Olympics.

Italy’s Ludovico Fossali clinched the speed world championships title in 2019 and also competed in Tokyo. The 26-year-old aims to qualify again and will count on the support of the home crowd.

Spain’s record holder Erik Noya is one of the biggest names in the speed climbing scene. A close friend of Olympic champion Alberto Ginés, the 29-year-old will not pass up the chance of trying to qualify in Rome.