Lausanne, Switzerland - On the occasion of the International Federation (IF) Gender Equality in Leadership Forum (March 27-28, 2018), the ISF president Mr Laurent Petrynka and the president of International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC), Mr Marco Maria Scolaris, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to strengthen the cooperation between the two federations and the development of sport climbing among the school-going youth.
The MoU also confirmed the organisation of the first ever ISF World School Championships (WSC) in sport climbing, set to be held in Aubenas, France, in 2019.
This summer sport climbing will make its Olympic debut in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Young climbers from all over the World will be given a chance to showcase their skills at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
In 2016 IOC confirmed that the sport will also be featured at the senior level and will be included at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
IFSC has 87 member federations from all over the Globe. The federation estimates more than 25 million people are in some way, elite or recreational, involved with sport climbing.
The first IFSC World Championship was held in 1991 in Frankfurt, Germany. A year later, the first Youth World Championship took place in Basel, Switzerland (1992).
Sport climbing competition has three different disciplines: speed, lead and bouldering.
- Lead; athletes climb at a time, secured with a rope and have a 6-minute time limit to reach to highest height possible.
- Boulder: maximum height of the boulder is 4 meters. Climbers try to overcome the wall with just a few explosive movements.
- Speed: Secured from above, climbers run up 15-meter parallel walls, two climbers at a time. The fastest wins.
Sport climbing is extremely popular among the young generation. Based on the facts presented on IFSC website, 39% of elite climbers are under 18 years of age.
ISF is honoured to start a new cooperation with IFSC with the aim to strengthen and improve the development of sport climbing in schools and School Sport around the World.
