Olympics are coming (August 3rd) and I made an article a couple of months back about what to expect with the Olympics (events, scoring, list of climbers, etc) and I realized that if you’re like me, then you’re going to want to know about the individual climbers entering the competition – so I did some research:
There are 40 competitors climbing at the Olympics in 2021 – 20 males and 20 females. Each competitor will be participating in all three disciplines, including speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing. Based on a combined score, the top three competitors for both men and women will take the podium. Countries can take more than one podium position, meaning that we could see two Japanese competitors or two United States competitors, for example, standing next to each other with medals around their neck.
So who is competing and what should we expect from their performance? I did a lot of research and reviewed tons of climbing footage of each climber to bring you the most up-to-date information in this article.
Men:
There are 20 men competing at the Olympics with most countries only having one representative.
Adam Ondra
Nationality: Czech Republic
Age: 28 (Feb 2, 1993)
Height: 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 70 kg (154 lb)
Specialty: Lead Climbing – Cracks
About: Ondra is possibly the most famous of all the men competing and started climbing professional grades 9a (5.15a) at 13 years old. Many believe that he’ll take gold at the Olympics due to his incredible endurance and problem solving skills. Though he may be the best at bouldering and lead climbing according to the last couple of seasons, his score for speed may prevent him from achieving gold.
Placement Prediction: Silver
I did an entire video introducing Adam Ondra so if you want to know more about him, check out this video:
Alex Megos
Nationality: Germany
Age: 27 (August 12, 1993)
Height: 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight: 57 kg (126 lb)
Specialty: Power/Strength moves
About: He was the first climber to on-sight (climb without prior practice or advice) a route graded 9a (5.14d). He’s known for incredible grip strength and has taken the podium at many world cups for lead and even bouldering. However, during the last few speed climbing competitions he has taken 49th and 17th, which isn’t good enough to get on the podium for the Olympics in Tokyo
Placement Prediction: Top 5
I did an entire video introducing Adam Ondra so if you want to know more about him, check out this video:
Sean McColl
Nationality: Candadian
Age: 33 (September 3, 1987)
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 60 kg (132 lb)
Specialty: Lead
About: Lead climbing tends to be where he performs the best in the last few years with bouldering close behind. When Sean was a youth, he also earned multiple golds for speed, though that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore as he has placed 33, 42, 37 in the last few speed competitions.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
Mickaël Mawem
Nationality: French
Age: 30 (August 3, 1990)
Height: 5’8”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Mickaël typically performs well in bouldering and speed as he is an explosive climber, however his lead tends to be a weakness. He has placed 50, 64, 30 place in his most recent lead competitions, however, those were from over a year ago and it is likely that he has been training for lead climbing over the past year so we suspect his performance will be improved.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Bassa Mawem
Nationality: French
Age: 36 (November 9, 1984)
Height:
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: Bassa may be the number one speed climber in the Tokyo Olympics, however, his performance in the last few competitions for lead and bouldering aren’t as consistent so it is difficult to predict how he will do. That being said, he still tends to get lower scores in combined formats so we may see him perform well in the Olympics.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Jan Hojer
Nationality: German
Age: 29 (February 9, 1992)
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 77 kg (170 lb)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Based on Jan’s previous performances, he is more well-rounded in the competitions than most of his competitors at Tokyo, though speed climbing is probably his weakness. Though we will see how he does on the world stage (not just the climbing world stage since we’ve seen him there plenty of times).
Placement Prediction: Top 10
Jakob Schubert
Nationality: Austrian
Age: 30 (December 31, 1990)
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 63 kg (139 lb)
Specialty: Lead
About: Jakob tends to perform better at lead than bouldering but both are a strong suit of his. When he is competing against speed specialists, he tends to rank lower but in a combined format, he is able to out-perform many of the lead and bouldering specialists, giving him a higher score
Placement Prediction: Top 5
Tomoa Narasaki
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 25 (June 22, 1996)
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 58 kg (128 lb)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Tomoa performs really well in bouldering and lead. He has also been able to perform well in speed in the past with scores higher than most of the climbers going to the Tokyo Olympics. However, he has slipped and made mistakes at the last few speed competitions resulting in a lower ranking. As long as he is in the right mind-set during the Olympics, he may be able to take Gold.
Placement Prediction: Gold
Chon Jongwon
Nationality: South Korean
Age: 25 (February 7, 1996)
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 53 kg (117 lb)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Jongwon is a great boulderer but his performance in lead and speed will likely result in a lower ranking at the Olympics. He started climbing in 2010 and was representing South Korea by 2014 in the Adidas RockStar Bouldering Competition.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Nathaniel Coleman
Nationality: American (USA)
Age: 24 (January 1, 1997)
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 163 lb (74 kg)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Nathaniel is well known in the United States for his bouldering outdoors. When it comes to competitions, he frequently places in the top 10 for bouldering and the top 20 for lead. However, his speed has historically dropped his ranking overall.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Kai Harada
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 22 (March 10, 1999)
Height: 5’6”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Kai is known for both bouldering and lead but he tends to place slightly better with bouldering more often. When it comes to speed climbing, that isn’t one of his strong suits and may make it very difficult for him to rank well at Tokyo if he makes any mistakes on the boulder problems.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Alberto Ginés López
Nationality: Spanish
Age: 18 (October 23, 2002)
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 58 kg (128 lb)
Specialty: Lead
About: Alberto is very young and has only been competing in the adult competitions for two seasons before this. However, in that short period of time, he’s made a name for himself in lead climbing. He used to consider speed his weakness but with a recent personal best of 6.28, he is able to keep up with the other competitors going to the olympics this year. His weakness may now be considered bouldering compared to some of the other competitors on this list. One thing that sets him apart from many of the men climbers is his flexibility in his hips and his use of high feet with static movement. This is especially impressive since he broke his knee last October and high feet require a lot of stress on the knees.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Colin Duffy
Nationality: American
Age: December 10, 2003 (17)
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Colin is the youngest climber on Team USA and at the Olympics this year. He has only had two seasons (if you include 202) of adult competitions but he has been competing in the youth championships for years. Due to his age, he has been growing really quickly which can be a disadvantage or advantage for climbing since he can now reach things easier but he also has longer limbs to get in his way, which is a new problem.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Ludovico Fossali
Nationality: Italian
Age: 24 (May 21, 1997)
Height: 5′ 11″
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: Ludovico is primarily a speed climber but after taking 9th in an Olympic Qualifying round, he was able to prove his skills with bouldering as well. He is one of the only speed specialists in the Tokyo Olympics so we plan to see him excel in speed but he will likely have a hard time competing against the lead climbing specialists as that seems to be his weakness.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Michael Piccolruaz
Nationality: Italian
Age: 25 (December 31, 1995)
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Michael has been leading the bouldering scene for team Italy and more recently has been interviewed about getting COVID and overcoming that for the Olympic games. He still has concerns of the 4 weeks that he wasn’t able to do more than some hangboard training at home during his recovery and quarantine.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Tom O’Halloran
Nationality: Australian
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Tom has started competing in all three climbing disciplines at age 14 but took an almost decade break before coming back to the competition scene to compete for a spot in the Olympics. His passion is outdoor climbing and his weakness is speed climbing.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Pan Yufei
Nationality: Chinese
Age: 21 (June 6, 2000)
Height:
Weight:
Specialty: Lead
About: In 2017, Pan participated in his first world cup for lead climbing and took 3rd place. Recently, he took 2nd place at the world Lead cup. His weakness is speed climbing but his record is still better than many of the other lead specialists.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
Rishat Khaibullin
Nationality: Kazakh
Age: 25 (September 21, 1995)
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: Rishat is a very strong climber and has incredible grip strength, which is a little unique for speed specialists. His flexibility can be a hindrance for the Olympics, especially if flexible static movements are required of him.He became the first athlete from CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States, the organization of post-Soviet republics in Eurasia) to receive an Olympic invitation. Currently his father coaches him and he hopse to also get coached by the Olympic trainers in the future.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Christopher Cosser
Nationality: South African
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Specialty: Bouldering
About: He is one of the youngest competitors in the Olympics and was actually competing in the world youth cup as recently as 2019. Though his specialty is bouldering and he considers lead climbing his 2nd best discipline, he also holds the South Africa record for speed at 6.87.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Aleksei Rubtsov
Nationality: Russian
Age: 32 (August 5, 1988)
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 63 kg (139 lb)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Aleksei has podiumed in multiple bouldering world cups over the last few years. In addition to competitive climbing, he also owns a climbing gym in Russia.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
Women:
There are 20 women from around the world representing their countries in the Tokyo Olympics. Most of the countries only have one representative but there are a few countries like Japan and the United States that have two competitors.
Miho Nonaka
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 24 (May 21, 1997)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 53 kg (117 lb)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Miho is one of the most underrated competitive climbers in the Olympics this year. Recently she podiumed for the first time in Speed climbing, even though her specialty is bouldering. Unfortunately, she injured her knee in the first week of July (1 month before the Olympics) so hopefully she will be recovered for competing in the Tokyo Olympics.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
Janja Garnbret
Nationality: Slovenian
Age: 22 (March 12, 1999)
Height: 5’5”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Lead
About: Janja is considered the best climber in the whole world (men included) by much of the climbing community. She is well known for both her competitive climbing and her outdoor accents. Over the last 2 years alone, she has broken records indoors and outdoors.
Placement Prediction: Gold
Akiyo Noguchi
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 32 (May 30, 1989)
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 49 kg (108 lb)
Specialty: Bouldering
About: She has won many bouldering world cups over the last few years and is one of the more seasoned competitors at the Olympics in Tokyo. She also places well in lead climbing but her speed scores will make it very difficult for her to podium this year.
Placement Prediction: Bronze
Shauna Coxsey
Nationality: English
Age: 28 (January 27, 1993)
Height: 5’7”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Shauna is known as the most successful climber in the UK. She has been competing for a really long time and announced her retirement from climbing after the Tokyo Olympics.
Placement Prediction: Top 5
Aleksandra Mirosław
Nationality: Polish
Age: 27 (February 2, 1994)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: Alexsandra is the one of the only women speed specialists at the Tokyo Olympics and she has won multiple speed world cups. Her weakness is lead climbing.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Petra Klingler
Nationality: Swiss
Age: 29 (February 14, 1992)
Height:
Weight:
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Petra is the most well-rounded climber at the Tokyo Olympics. In addition to competing in all of the disciplines in the Olympics, she has also performed well in ice climbing. Her specialty is bouldering but she is also well known for the many multi-pitch climbs she does outdoors.
Placement Prediction: Top 5
Brooke Raboutou
Nationality: American
Age: 20 (April 9, 2001)
Height: 5’2”
Weight:
Specialty: Lead
About: Brooke has been well-known in the United States since she became the youngest female to climb a 5.13b at age nine. Since then she has broken a few other records for reaching incredible milestones at a young age. She has been performing really well in the last few bouldering competitions as well.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Jessica Pilz
Nationality: Austrian
Age: 24 (November 22, 1996)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 52 kg (115 lb)
Specialty: Lead
About: Though Jessica is a lead specialist and podiumed at many lead world cups, she has also podiumed at many bouldering world cups. Unfortunately, she ruptured her A4 pulley at the end of May. Hopefully she will fully recover by the Olympics in the beginning of August.
Placement Prediction: Top 20 (injury)
Julia Chanourdie
Nationality: French
Age: 24 (June 25, 1996)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 52 kg (115 lb)
Specialty: Lead
About: Julia is most well known for being the 3rd woman ever to climb a 5.15b. She has been competing in lead climbing since she was a youth and has been climbing in all three disciplines for a number of years. Though she is a really impressive outdoor climber (like really impressive), her competition climbing isn’t a strong suit.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Mia Krampl
Nationality: Slovenian
Age: 22 (July 21, 2000)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Lead
About: Mia is younger than most of the women competing at the Tokyo Olympics and has significantly less years competing. However, she is an accomplished lead climber and during her time competing, she has podiums multiple times. Not to mention some notable outdoor ascents as well.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Iuliia Kaplina
Nationality: Russian
Age: 28 (May 11, 1993)
Height: 5’5”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: Iuliia is an accomplished speed climber and currently holds the world record for women’s speed at 6.96. Her weakness is lead climbing, which is common among speed specialists as you could compare speed to sprinting and lead to marathons.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Kyra Condie
Nationality: American
Age: 25 (June 5, 1996)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Kyra Condie is a favorite in the United States. She has been competing since she was a kid and overcame significant back surgery early in her competition career. She has been training a lot for speed climbing, which used to be a significant weakness of her and her recent times that she’s been getting is promising for improving her placement at the Olympics.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
I actually interviewed Kyra recently on my YouTube channel if you’d like to learn more about her.
Laura Rogora
Nationality: Italian
Age: 20 (April 28, 2001)
Height: 5’0”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Lead
About: Laura made big waves a couple of years ago when she became the second youngest to climb a 9a at age 14. She has, since then, started competing indoors as well. Her competition placements has drastically improved in the last 2 years and she has even taken the podium on multiple competitions. Her speed climbing may prevent her from taking the podium during the Tokyo Olympics.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
I made an entire video about Laura, which you can see here.
Song Yiling
Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20 (dob unknown)
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: Unlike most speed climbing specialists, Song performed really well in the combined format during the 2019 season. Though her lead climbing scores are a limiting factor for her and it will likely prevent her from placing very well in the Olympics.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Alannah Yip
Nationality: Canadian
Age: 27 (October 26, 1993)
Height: 5’3”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Lead
About: Alannah is a more well-rounded climber than most and has been competing in all three climbing disciplines that are debuting at the Olympics. She has performed well in the recent combined competitions so she may do well at Tokyo as well.
Placement Prediction: Top 10
Erin Sterkenburg
Nationality: South African
Age: 18 (dob unknown)
Height: 5’3”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Lead
About: Erin’s first international competition was in 2018, which makes her a newer climber in the international climbing community. To make things even crazier, by the time she is at the Olympics, she’ll have only been climbing for less than five years total.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Viktoriia Meshkova
Nationality: Russian
Age: 20 (September 20, 2000)
Height:
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Lead
About: In the last few months she has taken first place in Lead, Bouldering and Combined in the European Cup, proving that she is a serious contender in the Olympics. That being said, she has only been competing in the adult competitions since 2019 and isn’t as experienced with the level of competition that are present in these competitions.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Oceania Mackenzie
Nationality: Australian
Age: 18 (2002)
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Bouldering
About: Oceania joined the adult competition league in 2018 after a few years of performing really well in the world youth competitions. She is newer to the adult competition and has a lot of promise for the future but it’s likely that the more seasoned competitors will out-rank her.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
Seo Chae-hyun
Nationality: South Korean
Age: 17 (1 November 2003)
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 48 kg (106 lb)
Specialty: Lead
About: Seo is the youngest woman climbing at the Olympics in Tokyo. In 2019 she beat Janja Garnbret at the world combined competition, which makes her a competitor to watch for. Though she doesn’t have a lot of world cup podiums as some of the other climbers on this list, that is likely because she is so young and doesn’t have as many years of experience. A challenge for her is her placement in lead and bouldering may not be high enough to counter her likely placement in speed.
Placement Prediction: Top 15
Anouck Jaubert
Nationality: French
Age: 27 (27 January 1994)
Height: 5’5”
Weight: Unknown
Specialty: Speed
About: She’s recently podiumed for speed climbing and typically does really well in speed climbing. However, her placements in recent bouldering and lead climbing events makes it difficult to see Anouck place well at the Olympics in Tokyo. That being said, she is most likely to make the Olympic team for speed in the Paris Olympics for 2024.
Placement Prediction: Top 20
More Trending Topics Like This:
- What Happened During The Men’s 2021 Climbing Olympics?
- Who Are The Climbers Competing In The Tokyo Olympics 2021?
- Is Climbing A Sport?
- How Many Calories Do You Burn From Climbing?
- 17 Reasons Why Bouldering Is So Popular
- The Evolution Of Climbing Belay Devices
- 23 Storage Ideas For Your Climbing Gear
- Why Is Climbing Such A Mental Sport?
- The Best Way To Take Climbing Chalk Through Airport Security
- Is Bouldering That Hard? Yea, It’s Hard – This Is Why
- Is Climbing Considered A Sport
- Is Climbing And Bouldering Good For Cardio?
- Top 10 Home Climbing Gym Designs
- 9 Signs You’re Seriously Addicted To Climbing
- Why Do People Like Climbing?
- What You Need To Know About Climbing In The 2021 Tokyo Olympics
- Can Climbing Build Abs And Make You Look Chiseled
- How To Introduce Your Friends To Climbing (15 Steps)
- Tips For Handling Your Period While Climbing
- Is Bouldering Outdoors Harder Than Indoors?
- Can You Go Rock Climbing Outdoors During The Covid 19 Pandemic?
- 7 Reasons To Wear Socks With Climbing Shoes
- What Is Dabbing? | Climbing Vocabulary And Culture
- Bouldering Vs Climbing: Training, Skills, Strength, Grades
- Indoor Vs Outdoor Climbing: A Thorough Comparision
- 22 Health Benefits Of Climbing – Backed By Research
- Bouldering And Sports Climbing Glossary: Lingo And Language
- Quick Tips For Getting Back Into Climbing After A Long Break
- 10 Legit Reasons You Should Not Rock Climb
- Can Climbing Build Muscle And Replace Weight Training?
- Do You Wear Socks With Rock Climbing Shoes?
- Is Bouldering Dangerous?
- What Should You Record In A Climbing Journal?
- How Are Climbing Routes Graded?
- First Time At The Bouldering Gym – What You Should Know
- 7 Common Mistakes In Rock Climbing For Beginners
- How Do Alpinists Get Down?
