International Federation of Sport Climbing

The International Federation of Sport Climbing, known by the initials IFSC and renamed World Climbing in December 2025, is the international governing body for competition climbing, which consists of the disciplines lead climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. It was founded in Frankfurt on 27 January 2007 by 57 member federations as the continuation of the International Council for Competition Climbing, which had worked since 1997 under the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme. The International Olympic Committee gave it provisional recognition in 2007 and formal recognition on 10 February 2010, and climbing was confirmed for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2016. It approves member federations and their competitions and sets the yearly calendar, including the World Climbing Series and the World Climbing Championship.