China News Service, Shanghai, September 5 (Reporter Miao Lu) On the evening of September 4, the 2026 "Belt and Road" International Rock Climbing Challenge and China Rock Climbing League (Shanghai) officially kicked off at the outdoor basketball court of Xujiahui Sports Park. More than a hundred top players from many countries and regions around the world gathered in Shanghai to demonstrate the unique charm of "rock wall ballet" in a contest of speed and skill.
The "Belt and Road" series of rock climbing events is a brand event approved by the World Climbing Federation and hosted by the China Mountaineering Association. It was first launched in 2018. It focuses on co-building the "Belt and Road" initiative and adhering to the principle of extensive consultation, joint construction and sharing, and continues to promote sports and cultural exchanges between China and the countries and regions co-building the "Belt and Road". This International Rock Climbing Challenge has a four-track speed race, a speed relay race and a mixed speed relay race for men and women.
On the first competition day, the speed competition of the International Rock Climbing Challenge started first. In the end, Russian player Yelizaveta Ivanova, who participated as a neutral athlete, won the women's speed competition, while Chinese player Zhang Shaoqin won the silver medal and Mou Yuju won the bronze medal. Chinese player Ling Yongzhi won the men's speed championship, Japanese star Ryo Omasa won the silver medal, and Chinese player Zhou Ziyu won the bronze medal.
The China Rock Climbing League, which was held simultaneously on the same day, was also fiercely contested, with the preliminaries of the speed competition and rock climbing competition starting in sequence. In the women's speed race, Guo Weili from the Jiangxi Applied Rock Climbing Club advanced as the first in the preliminaries, and Huang Xinyi from the Shanghai Donghao Lansheng Rock Climbing Team ranked second; in the men's speed race, Shi Zechuan and Long Jinbao of the Hunan Golden Rock Climbing Team took the top two spots and successfully got tickets for the finals; Tan Youtian and Huang Zixi were temporarily ranked first in the preliminaries of the women's and men's rock climbing competitions, and they will attack the podium in the next two days.
The number of rock climbing events in the Olympic Games is undergoing rapid expansion. Since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when it was first included in the Olympics, the rock climbing event has only two all-around events for men and women. By the 2024 Paris Olympics, it has doubled to four events, and speed competition will be an independent event. Looking forward to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the three sub-categories of rock climbing - speed, difficulty, and rock climbing will be completely independent, and a total of six gold medals will be produced by then.
Talking about the rising popularity of rock climbing in China, Li Guowei, director of the Rock Climbing Department of the Mountaineering Management Center of the State Sports General Administration, summarized three reasons. First of all, there is the charm of the sport itself. Climbing is a human instinct, and the sense of accomplishment after reaching the top has a natural appeal. The second is the promotion of policies and platforms. It has been included in the Olympics, the Asian Games, the National Games, and extended to the Provincial Games and the Municipal Games, forming a complete competition system and providing strong guidance for project development. The third is the jump in the competitive performance of Chinese athletes. The two silver medals in the Paris Olympic Games have greatly stimulated public attention and enthusiasm for participation.
Regarding the upcoming 2026 Aichi Nagoya Asian Games, Li Guowei said that the Chinese team’s goal is to strive for gold in the speed event, and strive to stand on the podium in the difficulty and rock climbing events to achieve new breakthroughs. He also admitted that as countries attach greater importance to rock climbing, the pressure faced by Chinese athletes is also increasing day by day.
Li Zhixin, chairman of the Chinese Mountaineering Association, said that Shanghai, as a gathering place for the world's top events, is an important window to showcase China's sports vitality and carry out international sports exchanges. The landing of this event in Shanghai is a major breakthrough for the rock climbing project to broaden its development pattern and expand its influence. It also marks that rock climbing in my country is moving from a professional niche competition in the past to a new stage of fashionable sports with universal participation.
It is worth mentioning that every morning competition of this event is open to the public free of charge. No tickets are required. Audiences can enter Xujiahui Sports Park and experience the excitement of the rock climbing event up close.
Gu Jiqing, vice president of Shanghai Jiushi (Group) Co., Ltd., said that the two high-level rock climbing events landing in Shanghai at the same time are not only a gathering of high-level rock climbing forces at home and abroad, but also a new communication platform for Shanghai and world rock climbing. This event will further promote the integration and linkage of cultural, business, tourism and sports exhibitions, allowing the event to better integrate into the city and connect citizens, and provide strong support for Shanghai to build a world-famous sports city.
