(Keith): Ah! I can't!
- Come on, Keith! You got this.
- I can't hold on! Give me your hand! Keith!
- I can't hold on! Come on, Keith!
- I'm too afraid! - Take my hand, Keith! No, no!
- I'm too afraid! (screaming)
(Zach): No! - Ah. - Okay, see you up there?
- I'm gonna take the stairs. - Okay, bye.
- Yeah. <i> (Zach): We're the Try Guys,
and we absolutely</i> <i> love the Olympics.</i> (Eugene):<i> The competition,
the drama...</i> <i> (Keith): The glory!
We can't get enough of it!</i> <i> (Eugene): But to be honest,
there's a lot we don't know.</i> <i> (Zach): So we want to become
the ultimate Olympic experts</i> <i> the best way we know how...</i> <i> by trying!</i> (Keith):<i> As we find out
How to Olympics.</i> - Today, we are sport climbing, which is a sport... - ...where you climb.
- Uh-huh! - But I am afraid of heights...
- Yes. - So today is a little
concerning for me. I can only assume
I'll mostly scream. (indistinct shouting, screaming) (Zach): Wow, is that Tom Cruise
in Mission Impossible? - Wow! (dramatic music) (Zach): Wow, look at this
monkey man. (Keith): Wow. - Wow, he's just going. (dramatic music continues) (Zach): Oh, whoa!
Did you see that? - Did he just jump
with his arms? - He just swung! And then, how're you gonna
get down? (Keith): Ah!
(Zach): Oh! (both): Josh Levin! (Keith): Professional
sports climber! Wow! - How's it going?
- It's good! So you're an expert,
you're gonna teach us today. So, do you think today, you'll be able to turn us
novices into pros? - Depends on your
definition of pro. - Okay! - What is sport climbing? - Sport climbing is the
competitive element of climbing. In the Olympics, there'll be
three different events and the disciplines will be
speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. And in the Olympics, the idea is that
you'll have to do all three to see who's gonna win the first Olympic climbing
gold medal. - Wow, cool!
- Wow, this is the first one! So this is really, really big
and worth watching. As it's never happened before.
- Absolutely. - Do you think you could beat
a monkey? - No. - What's even the point? Why do you like doing this? - Climbing, for me, has always
been super instinctual. So, when I was little,
three or four years old, I was climbing on tops of
bookshelves and tabletops, and all sorts of
different elements, and the great thing about it
is that you don't need anything to tell you
how to climb. It's just part of human DNA. So, just like other kids
liked to run or jump or swim,
I loved to climb. - We<i> do</i> need you to tell us
how to climb.
- We need you to teach us. - I've been competing
since I was seven years old. And some of my major
accomplishments in the sport have been winning 19 national
championship titles, the bronze medal at
the Youth World Championships, and also, I used to be
the former American record holder
in speed climbing. - Okay. You're qualified
to teach us. - Yeah.
- You passed. So, what is the history
of sports climbing? (narrator):<i> I can help
with that!</i> <i>While people have been climbing
rocks since...</i> <i> well, the beginning
of people and rocks,</i> <i> climbing for sport</i> <i> became popular with
the mountaineers
of the early 1900s.</i> <i> They loved climbing so much,</i> <i> they built the world's first
artificial climbing wall</i> <i> in 1939, made of stone
and concrete.</i> <i> By the 1950s, some climbers
in France and the UK</i> <i> were skipping the trip
to the mountains altogether,</i> <i> and building adjustable wooden
climbing walls.</i> <i> Merci, mates, merci!</i> <i> As sport climbing grew
in popularity,</i> <i> one of the first international
climbing competitions happened
in 1985</i> <i> near Turin, Italy, in an event
called Sport Roccia.</i> <i> It was such a smashing success</i> <i> that almost 10,000 people
showed up the follow year.</i> <i> By the 1990s, climbing events
had become so popular</i> <i> that World Cup organizers
decided, "No more real rocks."</i> <i> Competitions would only
take place</i> <i> on artificial climbing walls</i> <i> to help avoid damage
to the rock's surface</i> <i> and preserve the surrounding
environment.</i> <i> In 1998,</i> <i> speed climbing was introduced
at the World Cup,</i> <i>followed by boulder a year later</i> <i> and athletes with
physical disabilities</i> <i> joined the action in 2006.</i> <i> The sport was a big hit
when it debuted at
the Youth Olympic Games,</i> <i> Buenos Aires, 2018.</i> <i> And now, sport climbing will
make its official Olympic debut
in Tokyo,</i> <i>with a combined format of speed,
boulder</i> <i> and lead climbing deciding
who brings home the gold
for the very first time.</i> - So, if we want to learn
a little more about climbing
technique, one of the most important parts
about climbing, in general, and thinking about the physics
of climbing, is understanding how to navigate and manipulate
your centre of gravity, which is right at your hips. - Your hips don't lie.
- Right, exactly. So, understanding how you can
move your hips on the wall to make it such that you're using as little energy
as possible to move yourself
from one hold to the next. - I feel like I'm in
kindergarten. I'm having a great time.
- Yeah, that's perfect! - Friendship and smiling!
(chuckling) - So, for example, if I'm reaching up
with my left hand, which hip do I want to have
into the wall? - The left one!
- Left. - The left hip. So watch this. (Keith): You're gonna go...
- Turn my left hip while keeping this arm straight.
Into the wall. And reach up. Exactly.
- Like that! - Yes!
- Oh yeah, that's easy! - There you go!
- That's easy! - Nice!
- Look at me! - Alright, so the first
discipline of the three Olympic disciplines
that we're gonna look at today is speed climbing. (sharp exhale) (automated voice):<i> Ready.</i>
(beeping) (Zach): Oh, my God. (Keith): He's flying!
He's so fast! (Zach): No, no, no, no!
(Keith): He's so fast! (Zach): Wow. Wow, wow! Wow! (cheering) (Keith): Awesome.
(Zach): It was about
7-something. - That's what I was going for. - That was good! (exhaling loudly) - Speed climbing is very
anaerobic. So, you're holding your breath,
like, the entire way. - Oh! Why is that? - Because it's so fast that... if you were stopping to breathe,
you're not going fast enough. - No k--
(laughter) - Generally, the people who are
gonna be in the Olympic Games will be under 10 seconds...
- Oh! - And the world record right now
is 5.48 seconds. (both): No.
(Josh): Yes. (both): No.
(Josh): Total. And the idea is that
you're racing someone else, first person to the top wins,
that's it. - Oh, my God. This is it.
- This is our training. - Yeah.
- We could-- - What if we qualify? - There you go, you never know!
You'd be in the Olympics. (dramatic music) - Alright, so we're gonna hook
this into your harness here. Just like that.
(chuckling) And then, when you get ready, you're gonna put one
of your feet on that line, and that'll make sure
you don't false start. (Zach): Okay. (ding!)
(Keith): Go! Yes! - Go, go, go. Launch your body!
(Josh): Nice! There you go! - Laun-- Yes!
- Come on, there you go, Zach! Come on. At this point, he... - ...go from here to there?
Are you out of your mind?! (Josh): Can you put your
left foot up? Come on. (grunting)
(overlapping encouragements) (Josh): Up to the upper part.
(Keith): Now, fly! (Josh): Good. Perfect.
Reach up, reach up, reach up! Come on!
(grunting) (all yelling) (Keith): I'm gonna push you
right back that way. - Nice job! Alright, we're gonna have some
assisted climbing here. (Keith): Whoa!
- Yep, there you go. (Keith): How do you even...?
- No, right hand in
the same scoop. - I'm feeling a scoop
if y'know what I mean! Keep on going! - Okay, we're gonna come down!
- Okay! Woo!
(chuckling) - Nice.
- I don't know... You gotta have
a lot of strength! - I forget how pillow
your butt is until I get my hands
right on it again. - It's a soft pillow!
- It's nice! - Some people have muscles
in their butt. Not me! All fat, baby! (all chuckling)
- It's nice! (Josh): So, this is bouldering. - Okay!
- Alright, let's boulder! Alright! Here we go!
- Boulder! (overlapping exclamations) (Zach): That hurts... - So, the cool part about
bouldering is that you don't have to have
a huge space to do it. All you need to have is a short
little wall, some nice pads on the ground, some shoes, and some chalk. (dramatic music) (music winding down) (Keith): Okay,
that's a lot of chalk! (Josh): In an individual
bouldering round, you'll typically get four to
five different boulder problems. We call them
"boulder problems" because you're actually having
to problem solve your way up the climb as you move along. The climbs you get
are brand-new. - So when you're doing
a bouldering, you're seeing something
for the first time and you need to solve it
right there and then? - Exactly. So, before you climb something
in competition, usually for
the very first time ever, a really valuable technique
and asset to have is being able to visualize
the climb ahead of climbing it. So, you'll see a lot of climbers
doing this kind of, like, mime dance, ballet movement
ahead of doing their climb because it helps them visualize
and get the muscle memory
required before they try something
for the very first time ever. (Zach): Show us how it's done!
- Okay. So, some chalk.
- We get our own bag! - Whoa!
- Oh, wow! I'm gonna wear it like the cool
kids do, across body. - Yeah! - The chalk is actually
a drying agent. So what it does is it actually
dries out your hands just a little bit. That way, when you grab onto
the holds, your sweaty hands will not be
slipping on the surfaces. - Do people ever use these
on dates? - Ha! I wish I had chalk
on some dates I've been on. (Keith): Yeah, right?
- Because that would make me
feel a lot more comfortable and not worry about
my sweaty hands. - And if it's a bad date,
you can climb out of there. (laughing)
(Keith): No problem. - So, for this one,
this is the easiest level. It says a big "0" right here, the "V" stands for "bouldering".
- Level 0... - After you start there,
you're gonna go all the way up. You can use the same
colour holds and then, ideally, what you do
is you get to the top, put both hands on the top... - And say, "I'm the champion!" - And you've done it, you've gotten to the top
of the boulder and you solved
a boulder problem. Ideally, trying to keep
your arms straighter. But at the same time, don't really rely entirely
on your skeleton, because that's how you end up
getting shoulder injuries, which I have had
in my past career. - I rarely think about
my skeleton. You know? - I think about it every day.
- Really? - Yeah.
- Well, you have a skeleton that you have to think about.
- Yeah. - When you complete a climb, we call, "You sent it."
So, full send. (Keith and Zach): Full send. - Let's go!
- Alright, so here we go. - Alright, so we're here. - You're here.
Two hands on the start. - You look so f-- Your body is so big! You look like
Alice in Wonderland when she bursts out
of her home. You do not belong
on this little wall! (dramatic music)
(glass shattering) (Josh): We're ready.
Give it a go! (Keith): Ah.
- Looks good. - Ah! Giant arms Keith, go.
- Excellent. (shaky exclamation) - Awesome, can you reach up
to these? Nice! There you go! Very smart. Try for me just to see, like,
hang back a little bit, with your arms straight.
Yeah! Look at you! (Zach): Nice!
(Josh): There you go! (dramatic music) - Yeah! Full send! Full send! Full send!
(Josh): Send! (chuckling) - Ooh! Ooh! Yeah!
- Alright. - Whoa.
- You did it! - Ooh! A little scary there
at the end, a little scary there in the end
if I'm being honest! (dramatic music) (Josh): Lead climbing,
in my opinion, is the most dramatic
of the events. Because in the Olympics,
it'll be going last, and this literally
will determine who wins the gold medal
and who does not. The competitors only
have one try. So you could be in contention
to win the gold medal and fall on the first move.
You never know. I'm gonna be trying to do this
green climb, going all the way up here, going from start,
all the way to the top. - Oh, my Go-- I can't. I-I can't even crane
my neck that much. (Keith): Yeah, I hope
your stamina bar is... (indistinct)
(laughing): Awesome! (dramatic music) - I love this. It just, it looks so great.
- It's like Dr. Strange. - Isn't it? - Throw his trap around.
- Oh, wow! Wow.
- Okay, here it goes. (Zach, softly):
And... we're off. (Keith): And we're off. Wow.
Here we go. (Zach): Okay. (Keith): And now he's
gonna attach... - Now, okay, he's clipped in, so if he falls,
he won't fall hard. Wow, look at him go. He's like a little
spider monkey.
- I know! - And you have to take your hand
off to clip. (Keith): He's upside-down
right now. He's fully upside-down. - At what point is he just
showing off? (Zach): Again, it hurts me
to look this high up. - I know. I need to, like,
lay down. (Zach): Mm! Wow! - When you're laying down,
it looks even more confusing. (Zach laughing):
It's so confusing! (Keith): It's like,
"He's upside-down!" (Zach): What's going on?
What's he doing?! (Keith): He's got his toes...
he's toe-hooking. (Zach): Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow! This is the best show
I've ever been to. - Yeah. Wow! He's gonna do it! (ding!)
(Josh): Alright! (Zach and Keith cheering
and applauding) (Zach): Wow! Guys, come on!
- That was incredible! - Are you kidding me?! (Josh): Woo!
(Zach): Oh, whoa! (Keith): Holy! That was wild!
- Whoa! You're my hero! (Keith): That was... crazy. (Zach): Holy cow!
(Josh): Alright. - You sent that. Right? (Zach): All that.
(chuckling) We are gonna watch so much
of this during the Olympics and scream our heads off. - This is thrilling! I can't believe it took
this long for it to<i> be</i> in the Olympics.
Because it's crazy! - Thanks. - It's finally proof that
you can<i> hang</i> with the best. (music winding down) (Keith): I'm so sorry.
(laughter) Please don't get out
of the video yet. - So, our goal... is to get to the top.
- Yes. (Josh): On the difficulty scale,
it is a 5.6, which is on the easier
side of things. - So, let's round it up
to a six. - Yeah, a six, wow! A six! - Okay.
(exhaling sharply) - Alright, Zach!
Yes, look at that. (Zach): So, we start
like this. (Keith): Sexy hip start.
(Josh): Beautiful back step. He's actually utilizing some really good technique
from earlier where he's keeping the hip
that he wants to move his hand up with
closer to the wall. Good reach.
(Keith): Oh, yeah! Yeah! There you go. There you go.
(Josh): Nice, come on. Very strong.
(Zach): Yeah! I'm gonna make a big move here.
- Oh boy. (Josh): Nice. (Keith): Yeah! Zach, you're doing excellent.
- Looking great, man. (Keith): Yeah!
(Josh): Nice! (Keith): Look at that sender! - I did it! (Josh): Woo! (Josh laughing) - Yeah, booty! (Josh): Excellent victory dance. (narrator):<i> Uh, moving on.</i> <i> But before you two go
head-to-head in a race
to the top,</i> <i> you should know
the Olympic rules.</i> <i> In the Olympics,</i> <i> sport climbing works
like a triathlon.</i> <i> Climbers compete in all three
disciplines</i> <i> and receive a combined
overall score.</i> <i> For speed climbing,
climbers race one-on-one</i> <i> to the top of
a standardized 15-metre wall</i> <i> with a five-degree overhang.</i> <i> If either competitor falls,
they lose the race.</i> <i> A series of elimination rounds</i> <i> determines the rankings
for this discipline.</i> <i>For boulder, climbers get a set
amount of time</i> <i> to complete as many routes
as possible</i> <i> on a 4.5-metre wall
without a rope.</i> <i> To complete a route,
they must reach the top.</i> <i> But competitors can also score</i> <i> by reaching a handhold midway
up the boulder,</i> <i> called a zone hold.</i> <i> Climbers are ranked by adding
up the total tops and zones</i> <i>they earned during their round.</i> (presenter):<i> He's done it!</i> (narrator):<i> For lead climbing,
athletes get six minutes</i> <i> to climb a wall over 15 metres
high with a safety rope.</i> (presenter 2):<i> Oh!</i> (narrator):<i> Competitors are
ranked first, second, third</i> <i> and so on, based on how high
they get up the wall.</i> (announcer):<i> There it is.</i> (narrator):<i> Now, for
the combined scoring,</i> <i> which determines
who wins the medals.</i> <i> An athlete's overall sport
climbing score is determined</i> <i>by multiplying their placements
in each discipline.</i> <i> For example, if an athlete
places first in lead climbing,</i> <i> second in boulder, and third
in speed climbing,</i> <i> their score would be
one times two times three,</i> <i> for a combined score of six.</i> <i>The lower the score, the better.</i> <i> - Today, we've learned about
all three different disciplines</i> <i> of competition climbing
that'll be in the Olympics:</i> <i> bouldering, speed climbing,
and lead climbing.</i> <i> And after assessing
your abilities,</i> <i> we're gonna have
a final competition on...</i> <i> the kids' speed-climbing wall.</i> (both): Wow! - Alright, so...
- Woo! - Are you ready? (both): Yeah.
- Alright. - Wait, we've got to do
his breathing, Keith, he goes...
(exhaling sharply) - Alright. Competitors,
on your marks... (Keith exhales sharply)
(Zach): Oh. (Josh): Ready! Set! Go! Come on, guys!
(Keith): Oh, Jesus, I almost fell immediately.
(Josh): Go, go, go! (Zach): Having Keith here
is stressing me out, man! (Josh): Gotta problem solve
your way up there! Looking good! Uh-oh! Keith's catching up!
(Zach): No, he's not! Don't say that!
(Josh laughing) (Josh): Almost at the top! And...
(Zach): Gah! (videogame blipping) (Keith): No! No!
(Zach): Yeah! Wait, we could've done it
together. Keith, together! One, two, three! (cheering) The golden rock is mine!
- No! No! (exhaling loudly) (Josh): Keith, I am proud
to present you the silver rock in Children's Speed Climbing.
- Oh, wow! (Zach): Yeah!
- Thank you. - You did it.
- Wow, thanks! (Josh): And Zach...
- Yeah? - I'm proud to present you the first ever golden rock. - Oh, my God! Thank you so much! Ah, there are so many people
I'd like to thank for this. Of course, my coach, Josh, who really taught me
everything he knows and then some. Thank you. - I don't know if I'm not afraid
of heights now, but at least I was able
to focus in on what I was doing to conquer that fear
in that moment. This is something
I could do again. It was really fun. And my forearms were jacked! - I can't tell you
how many times I've been told
in my career that rock climbing
isn't a real sport. - Hm.
- I've been told this at every single level
of all society throughout my entire life. And to have this opportunity
at the world stage for my sport that I've been
doing for so many years, to be included in the Olympics, not only means so much to me, but the entire climbing
community as a whole. (Zach): I think, I'm gonna-- You know what, I'm gonna say it, I think this is
my favourite sport now. No offense to the other
sports in the series. Keep watching. Subscribe for more<i>
How to Olympics!</i> - You look great. (Keith): I'm so nervous.
- Looks good. So how does this tension feel? Does it feel like
it's pulling you upwards? - It feels... it feels like
we're getting a lift, if you know what I'm saying.
(laughing)
