Climbing championships raise Guizhou's global profile

The 2024 International Federation of Sport Climbing Youth World Championships in Guiyang, Guizhou province, have attracted global attention over the past week.

The championships, which began on Aug 21 and will end on Saturday, have drawn 599 athletes from 51 countries and regions. They feature three age categories — Under-16, U18 and U20 — and include male and female speed, lead and boulder disciplines.

Sport climbing was first introduced as an official Olympic medal event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The IFSC Youth World Championships returned to China this year after being hosted in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in 2016.

The competition is being held at the Climbing Gym at the Qingzhen Sports Training Base in Guiyang, one of the most comprehensive indoor climbing facilities in China. The gym is equipped with speed walls, lead walls, boulder walls, warm-up areas, recovery and therapy rooms, strength training facilities, meeting rooms and a live broadcasting room. It also has central air conditioning to meet training and competition needs year-round.

"Guizhou has rich experience in organizing climbing competitions and excellent climbing facilities," said Li Guowei, director of the climbing department at the General Administration of Sport's Mountaineering Sports Management Center. "The competition venue, which also serves as a regular training ground for the national climbing team, offers top-ranking facilities and services that provide the participating athletes with a great experience and unforgettable memories."

Wu Peng, who won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has trained multiple times at the gym.

"The climbing gym is excellent," he said. "Furthermore, Guizhou's altitude is conducive to improving physical fitness and cardiovascular function. I'm looking forward to pushing my limits and achieving faster and more stable results."

As the only province in China without a plain, Guizhou's unique topography has been a key factor in promoting the sport. The Anlong Limestone Resort, in Dushan township, Anlong county, in the Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, was approved as the first national mountain outdoor sports demonstration park by the sport administration in 2016. It includes nearly 30 mountain outdoor sports and leisure recreation zones.

The climbing gym at the resort, covering an area of 16,000 square meters, was put into operation last year and can accommodate 500 people for climbing competitions. A series of domestic and international rock climbing events have been held at the resort, significantly boosting local tourism income and expanding its influence and reputation.

In recent years, Guizhou has focused on becoming a leading province in ethnic mountain sports and promoting the coordinated development of climbing sports in competitive sports, national fitness, sports tourism and sports education integration.

"Guizhou's climbing is currently in a stage of growth, with more and more children able to participate in the sport at school," said Xia Zhaoyuan, director of the province's mountain outdoor sports development center. "Climbing requires high-quality venues and professional coaches.

"In recent years, the provincial sports bureau has been promoting climbing through sports education integration, strengthening infrastructure construction, organizing events, training coaches and mobilizing social forces to promote its popularization."