PICTURED: APA / AFP / POOL / JEFF ROBERSON
It cannot be ruled out that the climbing final on Thursday at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (10.30 a.m. CEST) will be a similar hangover for the nerves as the qualification. Because the combination of speed and bouldering is finalized with the lead. And that is Jakob Schubert's top discipline, as he brilliantly demonstrated in the elimination for the top eight. Ultimately, he clearly rose to fourth overall, the mode gives a slightly wrong impression.
If the combination started with the lead, Schubert would have taken a multiplication factor of 1 with him. In the worst case, the lead victory with 20 participants could have been extrapolated to two 20th places, which would result in 400 points. Schubert would have risen with that. Because the eighth-placed and thus last finalist, the American Nathaniel Coleman, had written 550 on Tuesday. After speed (12th), bouldering (7th) and lead (1st), Schubert had just 84 points.
Of course, in retrospect it was still a nerve matter for Schubert, as he had to deliver in the lead. Because after the strong performance in speed with a personal best, the “extremely uncomfortable” bouldering lap didn't go at all. “Nothing where you could make a few moves, always bamm everything the same,” he annoyed.
As a result, the breaks were extremely short, he only tried to cool down quickly. “On the second boulder you had to stand on a small step, your foot was so incredibly hot that you had a much worse grip. I had to struggle there.” After the top on the last boulder, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Because he can normally rely on his lead performance. And that was also the case on late Tuesday evening. “That was a huge relief. It's good for me that I was able to end the day with such a good performance.”
Until the end of the competition, however, he did not know whether he would be credited with the zone on the first boulder, which then happened after the trainer objected. “I went to the last boulder and said I just got a bonus.” In the end, the résumé of the qualification was: “Speed and lead were great. In bouldering, I know that it depends on the laps. I almost prefer that this is the lap where it didn't run.”
Now start again from scratch. “That is special with us, because the final is completely different. Because all of a sudden you can only finish eighth in a discipline in the worst case. And bouldering can be a completely different round and suit me a lot more.” For example, qualification winner Mickael Mawem from France, who surprised with the bouldering success. “He doesn't win the bouldering round every day, it went tremendously for him.”
Looking at the result, Schubert stated that “the big favorites all made it, even if they all did a little oops”. Among the gold contenders he counts the Japanese Tomoa Narasaki and the Czech Adam Ondra. The fact that he was able to leave this behind in the lead gives a boost. Now it is extremely important to recover from the day. “He was extremely tough mentally and of course physically too. Mainly because of the heat.”
In addition, there were only a few such combined competitions. “It's a new discipline for us too, I've noticed how tough it is to climb these three laps. And at the Olympics it's even tougher because you're so mentally under tension all the time. I was very nervous, I really wanted to get through the qualification and show the world that I am a good climber. ” It was probably the most nervous day of his career.
He is also pleased that the “very best climbers” are in the final and win the first Olympic medals. “I would like we all to have one.” For the final, he would like to see longer boulders, where you can make a few moves and get into climbing. “Such elements are also part of bouldering. You haven't really seen that today. Apparently they wanted our sport to be presented in this way. Funky stuff. That fits, but a little something simple would also be cool.”
