At the 1904 Olympics, the men’s rope-climbing rope was 25 feet high.
The event was held on October 28, 1904, at Francis Olympic Field in St. Louis. Each gymnast received three attempts, and only the fastest climb counted. Unlike the 1896 competition, the 1904 rules awarded results solely for speed rather than combining speed with style points.
George Eyser won the event in 7.0 seconds, with Charles Krause second in 7.2 seconds and Emil Voigt third in 9.8 seconds. All three known medalists were American. The official height of 25 feet equals approximately 7.62 metres.
Rope climbing was a short-lived Olympic event. It had appeared at the inaugural modern Games in 1896, returned in St. Louis in 1904, and appeared again in Paris in 1924 and Los Angeles in 1932. It was not part of the permanent modern gymnastics programme, which later focused on apparatus such as the rings, parallel bars, vault, and horizontal bar.