Pure sport climbing
Yesterday in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the IOC struck the decisive blow against including sport climbing as an Olympic event for the 2020 games. It was a decision that saw baseball, squash, and the sport I feel was unjustly ousted, wrestling, as possible candidates for reintroduction to the games. Although climbing as an Olympic event would have brought prestige, popularity, and spectators for the sport, I feel that sport climbing is not quite ready for it’s prime-time spotlight. It’s a sport that emphasizes collaboration and teamwork over rivalries, that represents global partnerships rather than dividing by countries, and which promotes skill, flexibility, and finesse over raw strength. I feel that an olympic debut for climbing, something that has yet to be seen on a global scale, would introduce the sport to many for the wrong reasons. I feel that climbing’s natural increase in popularity should come from a natural love of the sport and not the competitiveness that would ultimately come from seeing it on TV. Thus I feel I should state my case for why climbing should not be an Olympic event.
