How are speed climbing times measured?
I · Intermediate · The race · 1 of 2Times are measured to a thousandth of a second. The official time is rounded down to a hundredth, so a measured 4.798 is published as 4.79. The thousandths may be used to pick the winner of a race but never change the official time or a record.
How it works
- Measured: "to the nearest 1/1000s".
- Published: "rounded down to the nearest 1/100s".
- Records too: record times use the rounded-down figure.
- In-race tie-break: the thousandths "may be used to determine and show an in-competition tie-break".
- Not a new time: doing so "does not change or replace the official time".
- Why hundredths: the rounding reflects building and measuring tolerances of the wall, not of the clock.
- Only real races: only times from scoring attempts count for records, results and rankings.
- Not from re-runs for places: runs held only to split a tie for a place in the final are not scoring attempts.
- Timer faults: a complaint about the timing system can be made only as a claim for a technical incident.
The glossary has the official time, the standard route, speed climbing, the reaction time, the technical incident and the climbing time.
Tricky cases
The record is 4.79. A climber is timed at 4.790. Is the record broken?
No. It rounds down to 4.79, which equals the record. A measured 4.789 or better is needed to break it.
Two climbers in a knockout race both show 5.03. Is it a dead heat?
Not if the thousandths differ. They may be used to decide the race.
The two are identical to the thousandth. What then?
The race is re-run.
A climber sets a very fast time in the training session. Is it a record?
No. Times from training sessions have no competitive or ranking value.
Why the rule exists
Two walls built to the same drawing still differ by millimetres. Publishing to a hundredth admits that a thousandth of a second on one wall is not the same as on another, while the finer figure is still fair between two climbers racing side by side on the same wall.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Measurement | Thousandths of a second | WC Event Regulations, Annex B 7.1 |
| Official times and records | Hundredths, rounded down | WC Event Regulations, Annex B 7.2 |
| Tie-break inside a competition | Thousandths may be shown and used | WC Event Regulations, Annex B 7.3 |
| Lead | Time is rounded down to the second and used only for podium ties | WC Event Regulations, Annex A note 24 |
From the rule book
World Climbing, Event Regulations (version 3, January 2026), Annex B section 7 with notes 33, 36 and 48; World Climbing, Competition Rules (version 3, January 2026), Rule 10.1. Checked 14 October 2026. Official documents: World Climbing Competition Rules, January 2026 (PDF) and World Climbing Event Regulations, January 2026 (PDF).