Brooke Raboutou, 18, became the first American to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in sport climbing by placing ninth at the world championships in Hachioji, Japan, USA Climbing confirmed.
Raboutou, the daughter of two world-class climbers who has competed since age 7, became the seventh American across all sports to qualify for the 2020 Olympics after three open-water swimmers, two modern pentathletes and a triathlete.
Olympic sport climbing will feature one set of medals per gender, the event combining three disciplines: lead, speed and bouldering.
From Tokyo 2020: Speed climbing pits two climbers against each other, both climbing a fixed route on a 15-meter wall at a 95-degree angle. Winning times are generally between five and eight seconds. In bouldering, climbers scale a number of fixed routes on a four-meter wall in a specified time without safety ropes. In lead climbing, athletes attempt to climb as high as possible on a wall measuring over 15 meters in height within a fixed time with safety ropes.
A nation can qualify up to two athletes per gender into Olympic sport climbing.
The sport debuted at the Youth Olympics in 2018 in Buenos Aires, but no Americans were entered.
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