Nearly 600 young climbers from around the world were welcomed to Guiyang, China for the IFSC Youth World Championships 2024 ahead of ten days of competition at the Rock Climbing Hall, Guizhou Bureau of Sports Qingzhen Sports Training Base.

Held from 22-31 August, 599 athletes from 49 nations - 334 male and 265 female – will compete in the Boulder, Lead and Speed disciplines across three age categories – U16, U18 and U20, to crown the youth world champions.

Hosted by the Chinese National Federation, the event was opened by Vice Mayor of Guiyang Long Cong, IFSC Event Delegate Christoph Billon and IFSC President Marco Scolaris who welcomed all the climbers via video message.

There was a feast of dancing and singing for the attending climbers, coaches and officials after the flag ceremony where a country representative waved their flag as part of the parade of nations. Australia’s Cléa Hall also read the Athletes Pledge on behalf of all the competing climbers.

Each year the climbers attending the Youth Worlds do so with a range of experience, and 2024 is no different. Some will get their first taste of international competition; some will get their first taste of the host nation and others return with the experience gained from previous years and other IFSC competitions.

Austria’s Flora Oblasser returns to the Youth Worlds with IFSC World Cup experience now under her belt, she said: “I’m really looking forward to the competition, I’ve never been to China so it’s going to be a new experience. I’ll just do Lead and then I’ll head back to Europe to do the World Cup in Koper, and that will be the last for me this year.

“Competing at the World Cup’s help me to prepare for the Youth Worlds because the routes are really hard, and I hope for some similar routes at the Youth World Championship. It’s good for my mental game to climb with such good climbers and it will help me to be calmer when I climb at the Youths.”

Malaysia’s Ke Qun Tao also returns after a debut performance in the 2023 edition, he said: “Competing at last year’s Youth Worlds was a real eye-opening experience as it was the first IFSC competition of my life. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in climbing, it was so different to normal competitions.”

On his goal for the 2024 event Tao said: “This year I am expecting to place in the top 35, and I’m hoping to make a semi-final and then rank in the top 15.”

Tao also got another taste for international competition when he competed at the IFSC World Cup Briançon last month: “Competing at the World Cup is different from the Youth Worlds because the competition is a lot harder, and then hopefully that will make competing at the Youth Worlds feel a little easier if that makes sense.”

Competition will begin with the men’s and women’s U18 Lead qualification on 22 August at 09:00 (UTC+8:00).