Tokyo 2020 has seen the introduction of plenty of new sports, including surfing, skateboarding and baseball/softball.
Team GB achieved success in the women’s park skateboarding, with 13-year-old Sky Brown becoming the youngest British Olympic medal winner of all-time after she won bronze.
The baseball competition, meanwhile, saw hosts Japan pull off a shock victory over United States in round two. They also beat the US in the softball gold medal match.
Another new sport added to the Olympic calendar in this cycle is sport climbing – which has gone down immensely well with viewers.
The sport is split into three disciplines – speed, bouldering and lead.
The speed discipline is simple. Athletes must climb up a wall using identical routes in the fastest time possible.
Races normally end in under 10 seconds, such is the pace at which the best athletes can reach the top.
In fact, the world record for climbing a 15 metre wall stands at 5.20 seconds.
The men’s speed climbing qualification stage took place yesterday, with the women’s stage taking place this morning.
Team GB‘s Shauna Coxsey recorded a 16th place finish with a time of 9.65. The top eight climbers go through, but only when all three events have been combined.
The discipline has certainly caught the eye of viewers across the world.
Luckily, the new legion of sport climbing fans don’t have too long to wait for the next events. The women’s bouldering and lead events are taking place throughout the remainder of today, meaning that by mid-afternoon, we will know who is progressing to the final.
The men’s combined final takes place on Thursday, beginning at 5:30pm local time, with the women’s combined final taking place on Friday.
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