Singapore’s sport climbing federation aims to have a participant at the Olympics by Brisbane 2032

SINGAPORE – Sport climbing has experienced a rapid growth in recent years, with the sport making its debut at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

As the sport is set to feature at the next three Games, the Singapore Sport Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (SSCMF) has set its sights on having a Singaporean at the Olympics by Brisbane 2032.

The federation is also aiming to have a local climber qualify for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Dakar, Senegal. Singapore was represented by Mark Chan at the 2018 YOG in Buenos Aires, where the sport made its bow.

To achieve these goals, the SSCMF is working with the National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI), the Singapore Sport Institute and Sport Singapore to support its athletes in areas such as training facilities, sports science and a structured pathway for progression.

NYSI deputy director Low Chee Yong said: “Since the Tokyo Olympics and even before that at the 2018 YOG, there was a keen interest in getting a high-performance pathway for urban sports going.

“We also think it’s an understated sport, if you look at the stats, the number of gyms and people climbing, it’s actually a significant base of development opportunity.

“It’s just nice that the Olympics in the next three cycles will have all these elements of urban sports so we decided to have one of our key strategies to support urban sports.”

One of the key initiatives is the setting up of the National Climbing Training Centre (NTC) in November 2022. The facility at NYSI’s Kallang premises has two 6m-wide walls – one for the speed event and the other for the lead category.

Artificial Intelligence technology will also be implemented to provide real-time analysis of the speed-climbing motion, allowing immediate feedback to the coach, athlete and support staff.

While the number of commercial climbing gyms has increased from 18 in 2018 to over 35 currently, having a dedicated facility for its high-performance programme is important, noted SSCMF secretary-general Rasip Isnin.

Before the NTC was built, the national climbers trained at commercial gyms which were shared with other patrons, resulting in them getting only 30 per cent of the practice time needed.

Having walls at the NTC also allows the athletes to train on harder routes that they would face at international competitions than those available at private gyms.

While the facility will mainly be used for the federation’s high-performance programmes, it will also be available to local schools and their climbing teams.

Rasip added: “We’re moving towards that direction, it’s no longer just to get exposure. We are targeting the 2026 Youth Olympics because we believe that our youth has a strong possibility of winning a medal at the Asian Youth Championships.”

Ahead of the Sept 23-Oct 8 Hangzhou Asian Games, where sport climbing will make its debut, SSCMF is also sending several climbers to compete on the World Cup circuit.

Rasip revealed that the local climbers have been set two targets. First, to place among the top eight in the combined bouldering and lead category.

In bouldering, athletes climb 4.5m high walls without ropes in a limited time and in the fewest attempts possible. In the lead category, athletes climb as high as they can on a wall over 15m in height in six minutes without having seen the route before.

The second target is for them to clock below six seconds in speed climbing, which is a one-on-one elimination competition up a 15m wall.

There are also plans to do a joint training programme with Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Republic, which hosted the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) General Assembly at Swissotel last week, will also stage the IFSC Asia Youth Boulder Cup in September.