Sport Climbing World Cup season 2024: preview, full schedule, and how to watch live
Top Sport Climbing action is back, with 2024 billed as one of the most thrilling seasons in the history of the sport. In addition to the World Cup events there's also the Olympic Qualifier Series and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In 2024, there will be nine World Cups with a total of 16 events: 5 boulder, 6 lead, and 5 speed.
The 2024 World Cup season will be shorter compared to 2023 and that’s because the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) – the last chance to get a ticket to Paris 2024 – will take place in Shanghai (16 – 19 May) and Budapest (20 -23 June), while the sport climbing competition at the Olympics will be from 5-10 August.
The climbers will have the chance to warm up before the OQS in three World Cup stages: the first two in China (Keqiao and Wujiang) and the third one in Salt Lake City, in the US.
Once the final quota spots for the Olympics are in Budapest, the World Cup circuit will continue in Europe ahead of Paris 2024.
The 68 athletes competing at the Olympic Games will take to the wall in Le Bourget, with a different format to that used in the debut appearance of the sport at Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
Once the Olympic champions are crowned, the World Cup will continue in September in Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Seoul will be the last stop of the 2024 circuit.
Live coverage of the World Cup action will be available on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com
Full Schedule – IFSC Sport Climbing World Cup season 2024
- 8 – 10 April
IFSC Boulder (B) World Cup in Keqiao, China
- 11 – 14 April
IFSC Lead and Speed (L, S) World Cup in Wujiang, China
- 4 – 5 May
IFSC Boulder and Speed (B,S) World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA
- 15 – 19 May
Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai 2024 – Shanghai, China
- 19 – 23 June
Olympic Qualifier Series Budapest 2024 – Budapest, Hungary
- 25 – 30 June
IFSC Boulder and Lead (B,L) World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria
- 11 – 14 July
IFSC Lead and Speed (L,S) World Cup in Chamonix, France
- 16 – 19 July Lead Speed
IFSC Lead and Speed (L,S) World Cup in Briançon, France
- 5 – 10 August
Olympic Games Paris – Sport Climbing competition
- 5 – 7 September
IFSC Lead (L) World Cup in Koper, Slovenia
- 19 – 22 September
IFSC Boulder (B) World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic
- 2 – 6 October
IFSC Boulder, Lead and Speed (B,L,S) World Cup in Seoul, Korea
Athletes to watch – IFSC Sport Climbing World Cup season 2024
With such an important season ahead, none of the big names want to miss the first World Cup stages, either if they already secured a spot at Paris 2024 or if they want to get full in shape for the OQS.
Tokyo 2020 women's Olympic champion Janja Garnbret already obtained a quota for Slovenia by winning the 2023 World Championships combined event. As always, the woman considered the GOAT of her sport will be one of the favourites, especially in the lead event.
Team GB’s hopeful Toby Roberts and veterans Jakob Schubert (Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist) or Nonaka Miho (Tokyo 2020 silver medallist) will be other athletes to watch during this season.
Spain’s Alberto Gines, who made history at Tokyo becoming the first Olympic champion, will have to skip the first World Cups of the season as he is still struggling with a foot injury. He aims to be fully recovered to compete in Shanghai and Budapest.
With speed having its own event at Paris 2024, all eyes will be set Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo, who broke the 5.00 second barrier last season and will try to obtain an Olympic quota at the Olympic Qualifier Series.
*Note: National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
How to watch the IFSC Sport Climbing World Cup 2024 season
Live coverage of the action for World Cup events is available on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions may apply).
Broadcast and streaming feeds will also be available via International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) partner broadcasters and their YouTube Channel.