The modern, parkour-like climbing which is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo requires optimum timing and explosive power
When climbing makes its Olympic debut at these Games the spotlight will be on a field including Great Britain’s Shauna Coxsey. Elite climbers like Coxsey perfectly coordinate their movements, swinging their hips and using explosive power in their legs and arms to push downwards and launch towards their target hold, before catching it and controlling the swing.
In the modern, parkour-like climbing style, athletes paradoxically move like our prehistoric tree-dwelling ancestors, making gibbon-like leaps between holds. Dynamic jumps – called “dynos” – will almost certainly be in the route-setters’ playbooks in Tokyo. Conveniently, these urban-inspired acrobatic moves have also increased the sport’s spectator appeal.