Top Climbers to Watch in the 2024 Olympics: Our Picks
Janja Garnbret. Photo by FancyBeaver is licensed under CC by 4.0. Cropped from original.
When sport climbing made its exhilarating debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, it was a thrilling showdown with a single men’s and women’s event combining boulder, lead, and speed climbing. Spain’s Alberto Gines and Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret captured the world’s attention, and the gold, with their impressive performances in these combined events.
Fast forward to Paris 2024, and the competition is heating up with an exciting update! This year, male and female climbers will participate in two separate events: speed climbing and a combined bouldering and lead event.
This change opens the door for specialized speed climbers to shine, while competitors will need to be well-rounded to take the boulder/lead event.
Curious about who might win the gold this time around? We’ve asked our knowledgeable staff to share their top picks for the upcoming games. Get ready to meet the climbers who are set to dazzle us on the world stage!
Keith Wallace (General Manager)
I think for Women’s Bouldering and Lead, Janja Garnbret has the highest chance of winning based on her solid rounded climbing skill. She has the strength and ability to win both bouldering and lead which makes her overall chances higher than any other single athlete.
I also think that Brooke Raboutou has a real shot at taking the gold. Again I think she is also a well-rounded climber who could take both disciplines. She and Janja both perform well under pressure, and the Olympics should be the highest-stakes competition of the season.
For Women’s Speed Climbing, I am hoping to see Piper Kelly and Emma Hunt take gold and silver. I think it’s anybody’s race and whoever is having a great day will take it all home. All the speed competitors are so fast that any slip or mistake could shake up the entire field and dictate the outcome.
The men’s division is stacked with the best of the best, so picking the winner is going to be tough. It’s going to be interesting to see how the more competition-specific athletes and the athletes that also focus on outdoor route climbing and bouldering will do at this level of competition. I think that for Bouldering and Lead, Jakob Schubert has the confidence after his victory in Bern and his overall focus and climbing is on point right now. But you can't rule out Colin Duffy; after all, he was right on Schubert’s heels and finished a close second at Bern. Colin is explosive and has unreal strength. So if he is in the zone he could easily take the gold. I have a soft spot for Adam Ondra as I think he is probably the most accomplished climber outside of competition. His first ascents are legendary and will create a legacy in the sport regardless of how he does in the Olympics.
For Men’s Speed I am rooting for Samuel Watson. I think he has a long future ahead of him and this level of competition will push him to perform at his best. I do believe that Jinbao Long or Matteo Zurloni are the top overall favorites just due to their past performances. Anybody could be a shocker though since the times are so very tight.
But anything can happen, all the competitors have a shot at pulling off a Cinderella story win. So it’s going to be exciting.
Daniel Shaw (Owner)
Sam Watson and Aleksandra Mirosław for Speed Comps (they are the fastest and I like the American who has risen to the best in such a short time). Janja Garnbret and Adam Ondra for Lead, because I think Janja is by far the best woman in the field and I love Adam for his all-around achievement in all climbing realms. I think he has done the most for the sport of any of the Olympic athletes. Natalia Grossman and Colin Duffy for Bouldering, because I think both of the Americans have a great shot and have improved tremendously since the last Olympics in Tokyo.
Other staff members included the following competitors in their top picks:
Nonaka Miho (Women’s Boulder and Lead)
Sam Avezou (Men’s Boulder and Lead)
Alex Megos (Men’s Boulder and Lead)
Read on to learn more about these top climbers! Bios taken from the official website of the Olympics, teamusa.com, and other sources where linked.
Janja Garnbret (Slovenia)
Started climbing at age seven
Won the European Junior Champion title in 2013 and achieved a triple gold streak at the World Junior Championships from 2014 to 2016
Swept the Bouldering World Cup season in 2019, placing first in six qualifications, four semifinals and six finals
Has won the most IFSC gold medals of any competitive climber in history
Became the first-ever female Olympic gold medalist in climbing at Tokyo 2020 (in 2021)
Qualified for Paris 2024 with a gold in bouldering and silver in lead at the 2023 World Championships
Brooke Raboutou (USA)
From Boulder, CO
Daughter of former climbing world cup champions Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou and Didier Raboutou
Began climbing at age one
Became the youngest person in the world to climb 5.14b, at age 11
First U.S. climber ever to qualify for an Olympic Games
Placed 5th in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Combined - Women)
Earned two bronze medals at the back-to-back IFSC Bouldering World Cups in May, 2021
Qualified for Paris 2024 in the final Olympic Qualifier in June 2024
Natalia Grossman (USA)
Started her climbing career in California before moving to Boulder, CO
Began climbing at age six
World Championships: Gold – 2021 (Bouldering - Women); Silver – 2021 (Lead - Women)
World Cup, 2023 (Bouldering - Women, Lead - Women)
World Cup, 2022 (Bouldering - Women, Combined - Women)
Qualified for Paris 2024 by winning gold at the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 (Bouldering & Lead Combined - Women)
Piper Kelly (USA)
From Indianapolis, IN
Qualified for Paris 2024 after winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, Santiago, 2023 (Speed - Women), beating fellow American Emma Hunt
Emma Hunt (USA)
From Woodstock, Georgia
World Cup, 2023 (Speed - Women)
World Cup, 2022 (Speed - Women)
World Cup, 2021 (Speed - Women)
Qualified for Paris 2024 with a silver at the 2023 IFSC World Championships Pan American Games, Santiago, 2023 (Speed - Women)
Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland)
Two-time women's speed world champion (2018 and 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships)
Placed 4th in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (speed, boulder and lead combined) while setting a new women's speed climbing world record
Broke her own previous record five subsequent times during IFSC Climbing World Cup events in 2022 and 2023
Qualified for the 2024 Olympics in the European Qualifier (Sept. 2023) while setting the current women’s world record of 6.24 seconds
Jakob Schubert (Austria)
Started competition climbing when he was twelve years old
Four times World Champion (2012, 2018, 2021, 2023) and three times World Cup winner (2011, 2014, 2018) in lead climbing
Won 2011’s Lead World Cup by winning seven consecutive competitions in that season (more than anyone had ever won in a single season)
Won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics by winning the combined event at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships, where he also won the lead event, becoming the oldest world champion in the sport
In addition to competition climbing, Schubert is the only climber in the world to have redpointed a 9c (5.15d) graded sport climbing route and climbed a 9A (V17) graded bouldering problem
Colin Duffy (USA)
From Broomfield, CO
Began climbing at age five
Was the youngest member of the USA Climbing team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he placed 7th
Qualified for Paris 2024 at the World Championships 2023 – where he won silver (Bouldering & Lead Combined - Men)
Adam Ondra (Czechia)
Began climbing at age three
Climbed his first graded 9a route at age 13 (5.14d)
Became the first person to climb 9b+ and 9c routes
In 2009, at age 16, he won his first gold medal in lead climbing World Cup and first silver medal in lead Climbing World Championships in the adults category
In 2012, at age 19, he redpointed the world’s first 9b+ (5.15c) route, Change (Flatanger, NOR)
In 2017, at age 24, he redpointed and was the first to top Silence, the world’s first 9c (5.15d)
Has won four World Championship titles and is the only male athlete to have won World Cup titles in two different disciplines on three separate occasions.
Competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics combined event, where he placed 6th
Qualified for Paris 2024 at the qualifying event in Shanghai, May 2024
Samuel Watson (USA)
From Southlake, TX
Began climbing at five years old
World Youth Championships, Voronezh, 2021 (Speed - Men)
World Youth Championships, Dallas, 2022 (Speed - Men)
World Cup, 2022 (Speed - Men)
World Cup, 2023 (Speed - Men)
Current holder of the world’s fastest time: 4.789 seconds
Qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 by winning gold at the Pan American Games in 2023
Miho Nonaka (Japan)
Won gold at the 2015 Asian Championships
Bouldering World Cup, 2018
In 2019, she won three Climbing Japan Cup competitions: Bouldering Japan Cup, Speed Japan Cup, and Combined Japan Cup
Qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she won silver
Earned her spot for Paris 2024 in the Budapest qualifying event in June 2024
Sam Avezou (France)
Silver in bouldering at the 2022 European Climbing Championships
Bronze at the 2023 Climbing World Cup
Qualified for Paris 2024 in the Budapest qualifying event in June 2024
Alexander Megos (Germany)
World-class outdoor climber. In 2013, he became the first-ever climber to onsight a 9a (5.14d) graded route. He has made the first free ascent (FFA) of some of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world, including two 9b+ (5.15c) routes (Perfecto Mundo and Bibliographie), three 9b (5.15b) routes (Fight Club, Ratstaman Vibrations, and The Full Journey), and several boulders with a boulder 8C (V15) rating.
Competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he placed 9th in the men's combined event
Qualified for Paris 2024 in the Budapest qualifying event in June 2024
Sport climbing's inclusion in the 2024 Olympics will boost the indoor climbing gym industry and the sport as a whole. The global stage will increase visibility and attract more enthusiasts. This will inspire athletes to innovate, benefiting climbers of all levels and elevating the sport's appeal worldwide.
We hope you’re as excited as we are to witness these athletes compete! You can visit our recent post to read about the schedule of the sport climbing events.
Join us at the gym for a community watch party on Saturday 8/10/24 from 6pm to close. Pizza, popcorn, and drinks are on us! Don't forget to pick up a bracket at the front desk and submit it by end of day Tuesday 8/6. We'll award three winners with bronze, silver and gold medals and prizes. A perfect bracket of all twelve spots wins an annual Coeur Climbing membership ($749.00 value). We hope to see you there!