Two events will be held, one for men and one for women. The competition takes place on a vertical wall with athletes using a range of hand and foot holds of different shapes and sizes. The wall may feature varying angles of either positive (known in climbing as a slab) or negative (steep, overhanging) sections.

The competition format will consist of three disciplines: lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering.

The winner will be decided based on who performs best across all three disciplines. To prevent athletes gaining an advantage from watching others scaling the climbing walls before them, each climber is kept away from the wall before their turn and given just a few minutes to examine the wall and routes prior to starting.