Sport climbing makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo as a combined competition. The gold medalist will be the athlete that demonstrates well-rounded ability in the three climbing disciplines: speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. Twenty athletes per gender will participate in the qualification phase, with the top eight advancing to the final round.  

Ranking Points

At the end of each discipline within a round, athletes are ranked based on their performance from worst (20th in qualification, 8th in the final) to best (1st). Over the course of an entire round, each athlete will have accumulated three separate rankings, one per discipline. The three ranking values are then multiplied together to calculate an athlete’s combined ranking total, which determines the outcome of the competition. For example, an athlete that places 2nd in speed, 6th in bouldering, and 5th in lead will have a combined ranking total of 2 x 5 x 6 = 60 points. In sport climbing, as in golf, the lowest score wins. 

Below are the results of the final round of the women’s combined competition at the 2019 World Sport Climbing Championships. Note how the final ranking was achieved based on the athletes’ rankings in the individual disciplines. 

Athlete 

Speed Rank 

Boulder Rank 

Lead Rank 

Combined Tot. 

Final Rank 

Janja Garnbret (SLO) 

6x2x1 = 12 

1st  

Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) 

7x1x3 = 21 

2nd 

Shauna Coxey (GBR) 

2x3x7 = 42 

3rd 

Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) 

1x8x8 = 64 

4th 

Miho Nonaka (JPN) 

4x4x5 = 80* 

5th 

Ai Mori (JPN) 

8x5x2 = 80* 

6th 

Futaba Ito (JPN) 

5x8x4 = 120 

7th 

Petra Klingler (SUI) 

3x7x6 = 126 

8th 

* If two climbers finish tied on ranking points at the end of a round, the athlete that placed better in two out of three disciplines is ranked higher.