Sport climbers rely on specially trained volunteers to keep them safe during Olympic competition

LE BOURGET, Paris — Making its second appearance at the Summer Olympics, sport climbing is attracting big crowds at the Paris Games, as well as lots of attention for some of its unusual characteristics.

Although participating in an individual sport, climbers are far from alone during competition, having to rely on specially trained volunteers to keep them safe. Volunteers also play an important role in keeping the walls in the right condition for climbers, while route setters play their part in how difficult each climb will be.

Athletes compete in three disciplines. In speed, they have to go up a wall as fast as possible against an opponent, while in boulder they face short technical routes and in lead they need to go as high as they can within a time restriction.

Here is a look at some of the elements of sport climbing:

Safety in their hands in lead

Athletes trying to go up a 15-meter (49-feet) wall are tied to a safety rope that is held by someone called a belayer. They are in the Olympics as volunteers but need previous experience to participate.

The belayer’s responsibility is a big one: Keep the climbers from hitting the ground if they fall. They control a friction device on the rope that can create tension and stop the athletes from going down. There is an important timing element to it, as they have to make sure there is not enough tension on the rope as the climbers are making their way up the wall, but then they need to apply the right amount of friction if they fall.

“Without the belayers we wouldn’t be able to climb,” American climber Colin Duffy said.

British climber Molly Thompson-Smith said “there is a huge element of trust” when it comes to the belayers.

“Sometimes the belayers (will) not give you enough rope and it can limit the amount of rope you can put up, which means you are kind of fighting to pull the rope up,” she said. “Sometimes you can have a lot of rope and take a big fall, which is a bit scary, but it’s not really something that goes through your mind when you’re climbing.”

Brushing help in boulder

Other volunteers who play a part in sport climbing are the brushers, whose responsibility is to clean the excess chalk that accumulates on the holds — the structures attached to the walls where athletes climb. The climbers need the chalk to help them avoid slipping, but if there is too much chalk on the holds, it reduces the friction that aids them.

Athletes usually will ask the brushers to come in after a fall or during a break, pointing to where they need to clean. The brushes are attached to poles of several sizes so they can reach all of the holds.

“The brushers are really helpful,” American climber Brooke Raboutou said. “When you are on the mats you only have a certain amount of time to recover, so to be able to have someone brush those holds for you and clean them off is really helpful. And I love that I can speak French to them. That feels special to me since I am half French."

Unlike the belayers, there is no special training needed for the volunteers who are brushers.

Route setting

In boulder, athletes find out the route they will have to climb only when they get in front of the wall. In lead, all competitors have a few minutes to look at the route before the event begins. They stand in front of the wall imagining the best route, and often talk to each other to exchange ideas.

“Maybe someone else saw something you didn’t, maybe you see something they didn’t see,” British climber Toby Roberts said. “Sometimes you don’t want to give everything, but you also don’t know what other people are telling you. So I like to go into it and just think about what I want to do and not necessarily listen to many other things.”

The sequencing of the holds in both events is put together by a group of route setters who decide where to put each hold and determine the difficulty of the climbs. Athletes are not allowed to see the wall ahead of time and stay in isolation without phones and without contact with people who may have seen the routes.

“You are kind of trying to get into the mind of the route setter,” Czech climber Adam Ondra said. “You are trying to find the intended way or kind of trying to break it, and that’s the dilemma.”

Split events

When sport climbing made its debut in the Tokyo Games, only one medal was awarded for men and women after each athlete competed in all three disciplines and the final scores reflected the combined results. In Paris, two gold medals are being awarded for the men and women — one for the combined competition of bouldering and lead, and the second for the speed alone.

“I’m really happy that’s the case,” said American Sam Watson, a speed specialist who is the current world-record holder in the discipline. He finished with the speed bronze medal on Thursday.