How Is Olympic Sport Climbing Scored?

There are two medal events in Olympic Sport Climbing: Speed climbing and Boulder & Lead Combined, which contains two events. No climber is qualified for both Speed and the Combined disciplines. Scoring in each of the Olympic Sport Climbing events is rather complicated, particularly for the Bouldering portion of the Combined event. This is how scoring works.

Bouldering scoring

Each of the four boulders is worth a maximum of 25 points—which is what climbers get if they climb to the top on their first try. But there are two intermediate zone holds—the first worth 5 points, the second worth 10 points—that give partial credit to climbers who reach them. 0.1 points are subtracted from the climber’s score for each failed attempt if they do eventually reach a zone or top. This rewards flashes and helps spread the field based on attempts. For example, if I were to flash Boulder 1, reach the second zone on Boulder 2 on my third attempt, send Boulder 3 three on my fifth attempt, and then fail to get to the zone on Boulder 4 despite 11 attempts, my score in the Bouldering round would be 60.4 (25 +  9.8 + 24.6 + 0).

Lead Scoring

The lead route (which changes every time) is set so that it contains more than 40 hand holds. The top 40 of these holds have fixed point values, which increase the higher you get on the route. The top 10 holds (holds 31-40) are each worth 4 points. The previous 10 (holds 21-30) are worth 3 points each. 11-20 are worth 2 points each. And 1-10 are worth 1 point. If a climber falls while moving between a set of holds, they’re given an additional 0.1 point. For example, if I fight all the way to the 38th hold but fall while reaching for the 39th, I’d have a score of 92.1.

Combined scoring

The Combined event is pretty simple: it’s the sum of your scores in the bouldering and lead events, with the highest score winning. To take my previous examples, my score would be my bouldering points (60.4) plus my lead points (92.1), which equals 152.5. But if I flashed all four boulders and topped the lead route, I’d earn the max score of 200.

Speed scoring

Speed climbing is scored in the Olympics just as it is in the World Cup Circuit. In the early rounds of the competition, athletes race alongside each other, one in the A lane and one in the B lane, but they are ranked by their times, not by how well they do relative to one another. This explains why you may see them both celebrating, or both crying, at the end of their parallel races. Later in the competition, however, the scoring switches to elimination rounds, with athletes actually racing one another. In these rounds, the athlete who wins progresses to the next heat; the athlete who loses is eliminated.

Related:

• WTF is a Lache? Plus, 39 Other Sport Climbing Terms You’ll Hear this Olympics

• Meet the Climbers on Team USA!

• How, Where, and When to Watch Olympic Sport Climbing

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