Ludovico Fossali's challenge: "Chengdu, my Paris"

Sport climbing was first introduced to the World Games in 2005: the agility and speed of the best athletes make it a very popular sport for spectators at the Games. And Ludovico Fossali is one of the biggest stars in the world at climbing a 15-meter overhanging wall in the fastest time possible. He didn't qualify for the Paris Olympics. "By a hair's breadth," he says, "and the event in China gives me the chance to redeem myself."

He was World Champion in 2019 and European Champion last year. "I'm super excited to compete in Chengdu. Our sport has grown a lot since Wroclaw, and on top of that, we'll be competing in a new speed climbing format."

Fossali made his name in sport climbing at the age of 15, when he won the European Youth Speed Cup. He went on to win several medals at the Italian Championships, including gold at the 2017 championships when he was 20. He also won bronze in speed climbing at the World Cup and gold at the World Championships. IFSC 2019 in Japan. There he placed 9th in the combined event, which secured his qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In Chengdu, two identical parallel courses on the wall are planned for the current Singles format, with two athletes competing simultaneously, and four courses on the wall for the Singles 4 and Relay. The 15-meter ascent is achieved in under 10 seconds, almost a "blink and you miss it" performance. Men and women compete on standardized courses that are not changed between rounds. "We have to climb a wall as fast as possible, against gravity, so everything that helps with that, we have to do."