How speed climbing works

1. Two climbers race side by side up identical routes on a standard wall, held by an automatic rope from above.
2. The clock starts on a signal and stops when the climber strikes a pad at the top. Moving off the start pad too early is a false start, and in a knockout race the false starter loses.
3. A qualification round ranks every climber by time.
4. The final is a knockout: the fastest qualifier races the slowest, and the winner of each race goes through.

The clock

Times are measured to a thousandth of a second and published to a hundredth.