IFSC Youth World Championships Rescheduled for 2021, USA To Host 2022 Edition
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The 2020 IFSC Youth World Championships, scheduled to take place August 23 through 31 in Voronezh, Russia, have been moved to 2021. The difficult decisions was the unavoidable result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dates of the event have yet to be confirmed.
Dmitry Bychkov, President of the Climbing Federation of Russia, said: “We were truly looking forward to welcoming hundreds of young climbers from all over the world this August, we will certainly do it next year. A difficult decision was taken, and I’m sure everyone understands that it was the right one. We know that thanks to the European Youth Championships in 2019 a lot of people fell in love with Voronezh. Over the course of the last seven months, the arena and the city itself went through some renovations, and we are eager for all the fans to come back in 2021 and see with their own eyes.”
Along with this decision, the IFSC is also glad to announce that in 2022 the IFSC Youth World Championships will be held in the United States of America, as USA Climbing had previously shown interest in organising the competition in 2021 and accepted to welcome the next generation of junior and youth climbers the following year.
IFSC President Marco Scolaris said: “To secure in the IFSC calendar two consecutive editions of our Youth World Championships now, while we are still in the middle of the toughest crisis of modern times, is a great sign of hope given by our sport. Last year we recorded one of the highest number of participating athletes at the competition in Arco, Italy, and we expect this number to be confirmed in 2021 and 2022. This also means that the Youth World Championships are a great challenge for the Member Federation that choose to organise them, and I would like to publicly praise the Climbing Federation of Russia and USA Climbing for embracing this challenge and shining a bright light on the future of Sport Climbing.”
USA Climbing CEO Marc Norman said: “We are honored to welcome the world’s best youth competitors in 2022. And to help them inspire generations of climbers to come.”
Patti Rube, President of the USA Climbing Board of Directors, said: “This is an important event on the journey to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and we thank the IFSC for entrusting us with this privilege.”
Feature image by Sytse Van Slooten
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