Could China dominate indoor climbing in next decade now the sport is in Olympics
- Elite level climbers are moving back to the cities, away from the rocks, to compete indoors for ‘world-beating’ prize money
- The best climber in the world may come from China in the next decade, predicts a Yangshuo-based Englishman
An explosion in popularity in climbing in China could propel it to gold, now the sport has been included in the Olympics, though the delayed Tokyo Games might be a decade too early.
Indoor climbing has become many parents’ choice of sport for their children, and the Olympics inclusion boosted both the profile of the sport and the support it receives from the authorities. Chinese professional climbers are now winning medals at top international events and domestic competition is booming.
“I would not be at all surprised if, in 10 years, the world’s best sport climber is Chinese”, said Eben Farnworth, an Englishman who has lived and climbed in Yangshuo for almost a decade.
Picturesque Yangshuo is in Guangxi autonomous region, which is now world famous for the quality of its climbing. “If you come to Baisha crag here in Yangshuo,” said Farnworth, “at any time there will be a dozen Chinese climbers who climb 5.13 [elite difficulty grade]”.
But the pull of competition climbing is changing the scene.
