There is an ongoing debate about the sport of climbing and its potential health risks. As a discipline directly linked to weight and strength, with the natural effects of gravity at play, many athletes follow unhealthy recommendations to achieve success. 

Increasingly, climbers are calling for concrete action to be taken against the eating disorders caused by the sport, especially under pressure from federations that seem to prioritise success over the psychophysical well-being of athletes.

RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, DER, or DRE) is a syndrome characterised by eating disorders (or low energy availability), amenorrhoea/oligomenorrhoea, and reduced bone mineral density (osteoporosis and osteopenia). It is mainly caused by an inadequate diet in terms of the energy consumed by the athlete compared to what the body needs. 

Coaches, often under pressure from clubs or federations to achieve sporting success, can push athletes too hard, leading to harmful imbalances with significant health consequences.

The belief that athletes with extremely slim body types have a better chance of winning competitions, linked to gravity and sporting success, poses problems for athletes. The DRE syndrome is a serious condition with lifelong health implications and can be fatal.

Last year, Volker Schöffl resigned from his position as IFSC Medical Officer, citing the IFSC's lack of action on RED-S issues affecting athletes in his resignation letter: "Due to the inaction of the IFSC, I resign from my voluntary position in the IFSC Medical Commission with immediate effect. We, as medical doctors, can no longer accept the IFSC's failure to address the RED-S problems of our athletes." 

As the Paris Games approach and sport climbing makes its debut as an Olympic sport (after being presented as an exhibition in Tokyo), the future seems uncertain without the necessary controls and concrete actions by the federations. Banning unhealthy athletes from competing is essential for the sport to flourish, not only in terms of sporting performance. 

In recent days, several athletes, including American Kai Lightner and Ukrainian Jenya Kazbekova, who won gold at the inaugural NEOM IFSC Masters, have raised concerns about eating disorders. Kazbekova, a member of the IFSC Athlete Advisory Commission, said: "For many years, the IFSC told us that they couldn't make regulations from a legal point of view and suggested that it should be left to the national federations. However, national federations only receive funding and recognition if they achieve results, and many organisations put results before athletes."

Since 2017, body mass index (BMI) has been used to alert federations to athletes who may be dangerously underweight, but the IFSC has not prevented anyone from competing. Strong comments from competitors during the Tokyo 2020 as an exhibition sport, such as Canada's Alannah Yip and subsequent Instagram posts, have reopened the debate about weight and its relationship to climbing. Yip expressed her disagreement with the IFSC's decision to remove BMI testing for athletes in the current season, highlighting the world governing body's attempt to turn a blind eye.

Following protests, the BMI was reinstated, but no athlete has yet been sanctioned, even though weight discrepancies affect the entire psychophysical well-being of athletes. The current parameters include emotional well-being, an aspect that seems to have been relegated to a secondary role in this sport due to the relentless pursuit of success at any cost.