Climbing New Zealand Selection Policies

Selection policy document for National Team selections (Youth Team, Open Team and Development Squads)

Current documents

LA28 Olympic Games

These criteria set out how CNZ nominates climbers to the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The NZOC then makes the final selection. Selection for the qualifying event itself comes under the CNZ Selection Policy.

How the process works

1. Build a competition record. Results at National Championships and at international competitions both count. Selection for a New Zealand team to an Olympic qualifying event follows the CNZ Selection Policy, which looks at Development Squad membership (earned through National Championships) and at world cup, world championship and Oceania results.
2. CNZ receives places at the Oceania Olympic Qualifier. World Climbing tells CNZ how many New Zealand athletes can enter. The Qualifier is held between September and December 2027.
3. The CNZ Selection Committee picks the team. It fills those places based on each athlete’s competition record.
4. Athletes compete at the Oceania Qualifier. The highest-placed athlete of each gender in each discipline earns an Olympic quota place for their country. World Climbing’s documents below list the other routes, such as the World Championships and the 2028 Olympic Q-Series.
5. The LA28 selectors decide on nomination. They must be satisfied the athlete can finish in the top 16 at the Games, with the potential to win an Olympic diploma (top eight). The athlete must also have competed at the Oceania Qualifier and at least three other listed World Climbing events during the qualification period, two of them outside Oceania. Earning a quota place does not guarantee nomination.
6. The NZOC makes the final selection for the New Zealand Olympic Team.

Who is eligible for nomination

• Born in 2011 or earlier
• A New Zealand citizen with a New Zealand passport
• A member of CNZ or an affiliated club
• Holds a World Climbing licence for 2028
• Has sent the NZOC an athlete application by the deadline in the table below, and a team agreement before nominations are made

Key dates

Date	What happens
1 January 2027 to 12 June 2028	Qualification period
12 July 2027, 5pm	NZOC athlete application due if you are not a CNZ member at that date
10 November 2027, 5pm	NZOC athlete application due for CNZ members
14 January 2028	Late applications in exceptional circumstances only; contact details to NZOC for drug testing
By 13 June 2028	CNZ nominates athletes to the NZOC
14 to 30 July 2028	Olympic Games, Los Angeles

The LA28 selectors are Rob Moore and Chris Warburton.

World Climbing qualification systems

Our nomination criteria refer to World Climbing’s qualification system throughout, so read them together. World Climbing publishes one document per discipline:

• Boulder qualification system (PDF)
• Lead qualification system (PDF)
• Speed qualification system (PDF)

These links go to the IOC’s copies, so they always point at the current version. Qualification systems for every LA28 sport are on the IOC’s Los Angeles 2028 documents page.

Questions about LA28 nomination go to selection@climbing.nz

Revision history

Revision	Change summary
2026	Released August 2026. Further clarifies selection eligibility Updates age categories for consistency with World Climbing Updates the percentage of athletes who may be selected to a Development Squad and introduces a two-year Development Squad cycle Further clarifies how the Expressions of Interest process works in practice Updates references to World Climbing (from IFSC) Retains Minimum Selection Standards for Speed only Minor wording tidy up throughout
2023	Released November 2023. Clarifies the definition of a Selection Camp Allows Expressions of Interest to be used as part of the selection process (section 6.6) Introduces single discipline selections, under certain circumstances, for Australian Youth Championships (section 6.30) Minor wording tidy up
2022	Released December 2022. Redefines national selector criteria to remove specific named roles; selectors now selected at large via the Expressions of Interest process (clause 6.7) Includes the Speed discipline in the selection process (clause 4.3, table 2) Includes World University Championships in the selection process (table 2) Adds competitive climbing experience as a factor when selecting for World Youth Championships (clause 6.24c)

The current Climbing New Zealand selection committee is Rob Moore, Chris Warburton and Peter Lofthouse. Convener: Duncan Kenderdine.

If you have any questions or queries relating to the selection process please send an email to this email address selection@climbing.nz

Speed Climbing

Climbing New Zealand Speed Climbing selection standards:

These standards are limited to Open, Junior, U19 and U17 categories.

Category	Male	Female
Open	≤ 10.000s	≤ 13.000s
Junior	≤ 11.000s	≤ 14.000s
U19	≤ 12.000s	≤ 15.000s
U17	≤ 12.000s	≤ 15.000s

U19 and Junior athletes can qualify a time for their age group while competing in the Open category.

For the sake of clarity there is no speed qualification for U15 and U13 as these grades climb on the Pacific K route and this has no international relevance at this stage.

Clarification on competing at Oceania and Australian and New Caledonian events

Official Oceania events (OCSC sanctioned): These events will be subject to CNZ selection processes, number of athletes will be determined by OCSC but may include 6-10 athletes per category. Athletes selected will represent New Zealand and wear the official CNZ Uniform.

Australian Open Championships: Event entry numbers will be determined by Sport Climbing Australia. There may be options to compete as an individual without being selected to represent NZ. Only athletes formally selected to represent NZ by CNZ are eligible to wear the official CNZ Uniform.

Australian Youth Championships: Event entry numbers will be determined by Sport Climbing Australia. This event is subject to CNZ selection processes. In recent years NZ entries have been limited to 2 athletes per discipline per age category. Athletes selected will wear CNZ official uniform.

Australian State Championships: Event entry numbers will be determined by the State Climbing organisers, or Sport Climbing Australia. There may be opportunities to compete without formal selection, i.e. compete as an international individual. Unless formally selected to represent New Zealand athletes are not entitled to wear the CNZ Uniform.