World Climbing Championship, formerly known as the IFSC Climbing World Championship, is the biennial world championship event for competition climbing that is organized by World Climbing. This event determines the male and female world champions in the three disciplines of competition climbing: competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing. From 2012 to 2023, a combined ranking was also determined, for climbers competing in all disciplines, and additional medals were awarded based on that ranking. The first event was organized in Frankfurt in 1991.
History
Creation and organizers In 1991, the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) organized the competition climbing championships. The International Council for Competition Climbing (ICC) was created in 1997 as an internal body of the UIAA to take charge of competition climbing.
In 2007, the independent IFSC was created as a continuation of the ICC to govern competition climbing.
In 2025, the event was renamed World Climbing Championship, following IFSC's renaming to World Climbing. Events The present format has four disciplines: lead, speed, bouldering, and combined.
The first championships had two events: lead and speed. Bouldering was added in 2001.
In 2012, 2014 and 2016, a combined ranking (sometimes also called overall ranking) was computed for climbers participating in all of the three events. In 2018, a specific combined event was included which the six climbers with highest overall ranking were invited to enter. The combined event requires athletes to compete in all three disciplines, and they receive a single combined score based on all three results. Scores achieved in single-discipline events are not relevant to the combined score, and there are no awards for any one part of the combined event. The 2018 combined event tested the new Olympic Games format, which was used at the first appearance of climbing at the Olympics in 2020. In 2019 the Combined competition was held again with the best eight men's and women's athletes receiving invitations to the 2020 Olympics.
In 2011, the IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships were established. The event is usually held alongside the open class competition. Para athletes compete in lead only, except for 2011 when a speed climbing competition was held as well.
Years The World Championships are held every two years. Twice, the cycle has been moved to the other year and in those cases this was done by holding the next championship one year earlier. In 2012 the World Championships were shifted to even years to avoid interference with the 2013 World Games climbing event and to give a supplementary opportunity to demonstrate the sport for a possible integration into the 2020 Olympic Games. In 2019 the World Championships were again held one year early, to now allow the Championships to be the year before each Olympics to operate as a qualifier event.
Championships Edition Year Location Date(s) Disciplines Athletes Nations Website NotesEventPara 1 1991 Frankfurt 1–2 October 2 X X - - - 110 22 2 1993 Innsbruck 29–30 April 2 X X - - - 127 23 3 1995 Geneva 5–6 May 2 X X - - - 135 24 4 1997 Paris 31 January–1 February 2 X X - - - 153 26 5 1999 Birmingham 2–3 December 2 X X - - - 180 30 6 2001 Winterthur 5–8 September 3 X X X - - 198 25 7 2003 Chamonix 9–13 July 3 X X X - - 241 34 8 2005 Munich 1–5 July 3 X X X - - 318 51 9 2007 Avilés 17–23 September 3 X X X - - 302 50 10 2009 Xining 30 June – 5 July 4 X X X - - 219 44 11 2011 Arco 15–24 July 4 X X X - X 374 56 12 2012 Paris 12–16 September 5 X X X X X 331 56 13 2014 Munich 21–23 August 1 - - X - - 509 52 Gijón 8–14 September 4 X X - X X 14 2016 Paris 14–18 September 5 X X X X X 533 53 15 2018 Innsbruck 6–16 September 5 X X X X X 834 58 162019 Briançon16–17 July 1 - - - -X Hachioji 11–21 August 4XXXX -25339 17 2021 Moscow 15–21 September 5XXXXX 18 2023 Bern 1–12 August 5XXXXX 19 2025 Seoul 21-28 September 4XXX X 20 2027 Brno 5XXXXX
Medals As of 2025 IFSC Climbing World Championships (excluding paraclimbing medals)
Note 1: share medals in 2007 IFSC Climbing World Championships
Note 2: one silver medal in 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships for Climbing Federation of Russia
Men's results
Lead 1991 François Legrand Yuji Hirayama 1993 François Legrand (2) Stefan Glowacz Yuji Hirayama 1995 François Legrand (3) 1997 François Petit Chris Sharma François Legrand 1999 Yuji Hirayama Maksym Petrenko 2001 Tomáš Mrázek François Petit 2003 Tomáš Mrázek Patxi Usobiaga 2005 Tomáš Mrázek (2) Patxi Usobiaga Alexandre Chabot 2007 Ramón Julián Patxi Usobiaga Tomáš Mrázek 2009 Patxi Usobiaga Adam Ondra David Lama 2011 Ramón Julián (2) Jakob Schubert Adam Ondra 2012 Jakob Schubert Sean McColl Adam Ondra 2014 Adam Ondra Ramón Julián Sachi Amma 2016 Adam Ondra (2) Jakob Schubert 2018 Jakob Schubert (2) Adam Ondra Alexander Megos 2019 Adam Ondra (3) Alexander Megos Jakob Schubert 2021 Jakob Schubert (3) Luka Potočar Hamish McArthur 2023 Jakob Schubert (4) Sorato Anraku Alexander Megos 2025 Lee Do-hyun Satone Yoshida Taisei Homma
Speed 1991 Hans Florine 1993 1995 1997 1999 Alexey Gadeev 2001 Maksym Styenkovyy 2003 Maksym Styenkovyy (2) 2005 Evgeny Vaitcekhovsky Maksym Styenkovyy 2007 Zhong Qixin 2009 (10 m) Zhong Qixin (2) 2009 (15 m) Zhong Qixin (3) Ning Zhang 2011 Zhong Qixin (4) Stanislav Kokorin Danyil Boldyrev 2012 Zhong Qixin (5) 2014 Danyil Boldyrev Stanislav Kokorin Reza Alipour 2016 Marcin Dzieński Reza Alipour 2018 Reza Alipour Bassa Mawem Stanislav Kokorin 2019 Ludovico Fossali Stanislav Kokorin 2021 Danyil Boldyrev (2) Erik Noya Cardona Noah Bratschi 2023 Matteo Zurloni Long Jinbao Rahmad Adi Mulyono 2025 Long Jianguo Leander Carmanns Zach Hammer
Bouldering 2001 Christian Core 2003 Christian Core Jérôme Meyer 2005 Kilian Fischhuber 2007 Dmitri Sarafutdinov 2009 Alexey Rubtsov 2011 Dmitri Sarafutdinov (2) Adam Ondra 2012 Dmitri Sarafutdinov (3) Kilian Fischhuber 2014 Adam Ondra Jernej Kruder Jan Hojer 2016 Tomoa Narasaki Adam Ondra Manuel Cornu 2018 Kai Harada Jongwon Chon 2019 Tomoa Narasaki (2) Jakob Schubert Yannick Flohé 2021 Kokoro Fujii Tomoa Narasaki Manuel Cornu 2023 Mickael Mawem Mejdi Schalck Lee Do-hyun 2025 Sorato Anraku Mejdi Schalck Lee Do-hyun
Combined 2012 Sean McColl 2014 Sean McColl (2) Jan Hojer 2016 Sean McColl (3) Manuel Cornu 2018 Jakob Schubert Adam Ondra Jan Hojer 2019 Tomoa Narasaki Jakob Schubert Rishat Khaibullin 2021 Yannick Flohé Philipp Martin Fedir Samoilov 2023 Jakob Schubert (2) Colin Duffy Tomoa Narasaki
Women's Results
Lead 1991 Isabelle Patissier Robyn Erbesfield 1993 (2) Robyn Erbesfield Isabelle Patissier 1995 Robyn Erbesfield Liv Sansoz 1997 Liv Sansoz Muriel Sarkany 1999 Liv Sansoz (2) Muriel Sarkany 2001 Muriel Sarkany 2003 Muriel Sarkany Sandrine Levet 2005 Angela Eiter Emily Harrington Akiyo Noguchi 2007 Angela Eiter (2) Muriel Sarkany Maja Vidmar 2009 Johanna Ernst Kim Ja-in Maja Vidmar 2011 Angela Eiter (3) Kim Ja-in 2012 Angela Eiter (4) Kim Ja-in Johanna Ernst 2014 Kim Ja-in Mina Markovič 2016 Janja Garnbret Anak Verhoeven Mina Markovič 2018 Jessica Pilz Janja Garnbret Kim Ja-in 2019 Janja Garnbret (2) Mia Krampl Ai Mori 2021 Seo Chae-hyun Natalia Grossman Laura Rogora 2023 Ai Mori Janja Garnbret Seo Chae-hyun 2025 Janja Garnbret (3) Rosa Rekar Seo Chae-hyun
Speed 1991 1993 1995 1997 Tatiana Ruyga Irina Zaytseva 1999 Olga Zakharova 2001 Maya Piratinskaya Svetlana Sutkina 2003 (2) Tatiana Ruyga Valentina Yurina 2005 (3) Valentina Yurina 2007 Tatiana Ruyga (2) Valentina Yurina 2009 (10 m) He Cuilian He Cuifang Li Chunhua 2009 (15 m) He Cuilian (2) He Cuifang Li Chunhua 2011 Maria Krasavina Anna Tsyganova Tamara Kuznetsova 2012 Yulia Levochkina Iuliia Kaplina Natalia Titova 2014 Alina Gaidamakina Klaudia Buczek Aleksandra Rudzińska (later with last name: Mirosław) 2016 Anna Tsyganova Anouck Jaubert Iuliia Kaplina 2018 Aleksandra Mirosław Anna Brożek Maria Krasavina 2019 Aleksandra Mirosław (2) Di Niu Anouck Jaubert 2021 Natalia Kałucka Iuliia Kaplina Aleksandra Mirosław 2023 Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi Emma Hunt Aleksandra Mirosław 2025 Aleksandra Mirosław (3) Deng Lijuan Zhou Yafei
Bouldering 2001 Sandrine Levet 2003 Sandrine Levet 2005 2007 Anna Stöhr Akiyo Noguchi Olga Bibik 2009 Anna Stöhr 2011 Anna Stöhr (2) Sasha DiGiulian 2012 Anna Stöhr 2014 Alex Puccio Akiyo Noguchi 2016 Petra Klingler Miho Nonaka Akiyo Noguchi 2018 Janja Garnbret Akiyo Noguchi Staša Gejo 2019 Janja Garnbret (2) Akiyo Noguchi Shauna Coxsey 2021 Natalia Grossman Camilla Moroni Staša Gejo 2023 Janja Garnbret (3) Oriane Bertone Brooke Raboutou 2025 Janja Garnbret (4) Oriane Bertone Melina Costanza
Combined 2012 Kim Ja-in Petra Klingler 2014 Petra Klingler Mina Markovič 2016 2018 Janja Garnbret Jessica Pilz 2019 Janja Garnbret (2) Akiyo Noguchi Shauna Coxsey 2021 Jessica Pilz Mia Krampl Elnaz Rekabi 2023 Janja Garnbret (3) Jessica Pilz Ai Mori
See also World Climbing Series IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships World Climbing European Championships IFSC Climbing Asian Championships List of best IFSC results UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships
References
External links