The women's speed climbing world record of 5.99s was set by Emma Hunt of the USA in Kraków, Poland on 2026-07-04, breaking the historic 6-second barrier for the first time. Speed climbing uses a standardized 15-meter IFSC wall with fixed hold positions worldwide.
The men's speed climbing world record is 4.54s (Zhao Yicheng, CHN, 2026) — a gap of approximately 24.2%. Zhao Yicheng also held the U17 world champion title at age 15 with a time of 4.85s, faster than the current women's world record. The IFSC U18 Youth World Champion (Chu Shouhong, CHN) ran 5.23s at the 2024 Youth Worlds — also faster than the women's senior record.
First woman ever under 6 seconds. Cleanest comparison in the dataset — identical 15m IFSC wall, identical holds, identical route, same governing body for all records.
The women's speed climbing world record is 5.99s, set by Emma Hunt of the USA in Kraków, Poland on 2026-07-04. This broke the 6-second barrier in women's speed climbing for the first time.
5.99 seconds means the climber is ascending a 15-meter wall at roughly 2.5 meters per second — comparable to sprinting up a steep staircase at full speed. Speed climbers use explosive power, precise footwork, and memorized sequences to maximize speed.
The men's speed climbing world record is 4.54s (Zhao Yicheng, CHN) versus the women's record of 5.99s — a gap of about 24.2%. The IFSC U18 Youth World Champion ran 5.23s in 2024, and Zhao Yicheng set 4.85s at age 15 as U17 world champion — both faster than the women's senior world record.
Emma Hunt is a US speed climber who set the women's world record of 5.99s at the IFSC Speed World Cup in Kraków, Poland on 2026-07-04. She became the first woman to break 6 seconds on the standardized 15-meter IFSC speed wall.