World Cup - bouldering.
Maglite is magnesium, OS (on-sight) is climbing without prior knowledge of the route, and carabiner is a carabiner. Each sport has its own specific terms that are understood by the respective sporting community, both athletes and knowledgeable fans. It is the same in sport climbing. And it had its home extra event after fourteen long years in the form of the World Cup returning to Prague. Many thousands of spectators did not miss the opportunity to see the biggest stars of sport climbing from all over the world. The most talked about name was certainly Adam Ondra, but the spectators were also looking forward to see Eliška Adamovská, Michaela Smetanová or Martin Stráník. The location of the competition in Letná was a good choice and besides that the organizers ordered good weather. The course itself confirmed Adam Ondra's legitimate ambitions to qualify for the Olympic Games and to really reach for a medal this time. The format is changed compared to the Tokyo Games and only the results from bouldering and difficulty will be combined, which will eliminate the need for Adam to practice speed climbing, which is not one of his favorite disciplines. After a thrilling final, which was not easy to qualify for, Adam Ondra took second place behind Korea's I To-hyun. Czech climbers did not qualify for the semi-finals on Friday, so the women's final was a purely foreign affair. The winner was 18-year-old Frenchwoman Bertone ahead of Slovenia's Garnbret. The excellent organization of the whole competition overcame the minor embarrassment of the fourth boulder for men, which all participants overcame in a flash on the first attempt. The atmosphere in the audience and on the stage was wonderful. Friendly and collegial relations between the climbers were already evident from the eight-minute pre-race inspection of the prepared boulders. The joint meetings and quick consultations gave the impression of team preparation for a competition where only individual skills will decide. Interesting moments also came during the competition itself. The German Yannick Floheé, who had forty seconds left on the first boulder, won great sympathy and the moderator was still encouraging the audience to support this climber before his last attempt to climb M1 (boulder 1), but Yannick used the remaining time only to brush the stupas and holds for the other climbers. He was rewarded with applause and cheers from the audience, but also with help in climbing M2. Here Yannick accidentally stood in front of M4 and watched the boulder for a while. Only after the audience warned him that he had to move to the right, in front of the correct boulder, did he do so and avoided the mistake.
A beautiful sporting experience with Czech success was a nice taste and promise of what we would like to see in Paris in a year and a bit
photo: Adam Ondra before the second round of the finals