Santiago, Chile will host the first-ever IFSC Climbing World Cup held on Chilean soil from October 23-25 2026, with the event combining Lead and Speed disciplines and serving as the season-ending stop on the 2026 IFSC calendar.
The announcement, originally made by the IFSC in August 2025, has gained urgency as the calendar fills out for the year's closing stretch. The Santiago World Cup will be only the second IFSC senior World Cup ever held in South America, following Curitiba, Brazil's boulder event in May 2025.
The Chilean capital has been building toward this moment for several years. The city hosted the Pan American Games in October 2023, where climbers competed for Olympic qualification places ahead of Paris 2024, and the venue installations from that event have been the backbone of the bid for the senior World Cup. Santiago also hosted the XXI IFSC General Assembly in March 2024, with the federation's senior leadership using that visit to evaluate the venue.
The combination of Lead and Speed at Santiago marks one of only three such combined events on the 2026 calendar. Lead requires a 4-6 minute attempt up a 15-metre wall, with the highest hold reached determining ranking. Speed, which became its own standalone Olympic discipline at Paris 2024, runs on a standardised 15-metre wall with athletes competing in head-to-head brackets after a qualifying round.
The twin disciplines suit Santiago's venue installations, which include a permanent speed wall built for the 2023 Pan Ams. The lead wall will be temporary, installed in the weeks leading up to the event.
For Latin American climbing, the Santiago award is a significant moment. Brazilian and Argentinian climbers have been pushing for fuller representation on the IFSC calendar across multiple seasons, with the long travel from Europe and Asia making the World Cup circuit financially difficult for South American athletes.
The IFSC's stated goal of running multiple regional events outside Europe and Asia has been a recurring theme of its 2024-26 strategic plan. Santiago joins recent moves to expand into North America (with Salt Lake City and Bouldering World Cups across the past three seasons) and Africa (a 2025 boulder event in Cairo).
The season-ending positioning of Santiago will likely shape the overall lead and speed rankings. Defending lead champion Janja Garnbret, who topped Wujiang qualifying on Friday, will likely arrive in Santiago having already wrapped up the women's season title. The men's lead title remains more open across Sorato Anraku, Hannes Van Duysen, and Czech veteran Adam Ondra.
For speed, the Santiago event arrives at a critical moment for both men's and women's record-setting. Veddriq Leonardo (Indonesia, men's record holder) and Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland, women's record holder) have both been chasing sub-4.7 seconds for men and sub-6.1 seconds for women across the 2026 season.
The venue, the Estadio Espanol de Santiago climbing installation, is set to undergo final preparation work in September. Live broadcast arrangements have not yet been announced, with the IFSC's standard YouTube broadcast plus regional partner network expected to cover the event.
Further details on the 2026 World Cup Series schedule, including final athlete entry deadlines and full broadcast partner list, will be released in the months ahead.
Santiago's debut hosting also opens up a path for Buenos Aires and Lima to bid for future World Cups, with both cities understood to have informally approached the IFSC about hosting opportunities from 2027 onward.