Does anyone seriously think that this is a good idea ?I'm not trolling BTW
Nope stays the same - don't like it much either but I suppose it makes sense to display all disciplines in Tokyo an hopefully get individual events at some stage if it goes well. The speed climb is probably something non climbers can understand maybe from a spectator point of view I would guess?
landowners trying to make money from venues rather than free access (as an example the water company that owns pex hill may try and charge for access, best outdoor climbing for miles around with a large population close by would make it prime development opportunity - they may also either want to bolt the quarry or make people top rope to reduce the risks again devaluing the experience).
My general feeling is that this isn't a good thing for climbing. I would however like to hear both the potential positives and negatives from others. My initial thoughts, Positives: Increased exposure for athletes and potential for more people to earn a living from climbing, better training methods with more research, better injury management and research, more/better climbing walls, potential for cheaper gear as more is producedNegatives: More rules in climbing, the best may not compete devaluing the competition - also those who don't compete may not be able to gain sponsorship as easily, crags are a finite resource and might not cope with additional numbers of people, BMC becoming more focused on comps and less on access/environmental issues, increased calls more outdoor sport climbing (thin end of the wedge), landowners trying to make money from venues rather than free access (as an example the water company that owns pex hill may try and charge for access, best outdoor climbing for miles around with a large population close by would make it prime development opportunity - they may also either want to bolt the quarry or make people top rope to reduce the risks again devaluing the experience).
I personally think its great that climbing is in the Olympics. As far as i can see there is no negatives in it for competition climbing, anyone who thinks its bad is just not into the idea of having a competitive side to our sport, and probably dont like it being called a sport either. The only thing that some could see as a negative is the potential for a big increase in participants but this is already happening now due to walls so will being an Olympic sport really accelerate it. And if it does bring a big increase is this an issue, In my personal experience this growth has only lead to the walls being busier and not the crags, definitely the case in the county. Re the joint format, i agree this seems a bit shit and cant see why they cant have individual medals as well as overall. It wouldn't mean any more time being required. However i also think that it will be greatly effected by the selection criteria. There are only going to be 20 participants of each sex so is this to be split equally between the three disciplines or based on average ranking over the previous season. If its the latter most of the speed specialists wont even be there and the speed section will just be between the "normal" climbers, which case you may just have the best lead/boulder combined going head to head not against some specialist.
On another note, surfing in the Olympic seems insane, what happens if Budapest gets selected as for 2028? Wave pool?
I imagine for the average punter, speed climbing (even may be several side by side?) is much more interesting to watch if you're dropping in and out of it etc....
Quote from: roddersm on August 04, 2016, 12:02:49 pmNope stays the same - don't like it much either but I suppose it makes sense to display all disciplines in Tokyo an hopefully get individual events at some stage if it goes well. The speed climb is probably something non climbers can understand maybe from a spectator point of view I would guess?On the contrary I can imagine it leading to confusion in the other events, particularly the lead comp. "So do they get extra marks for doing it faster?"It doesn't make sense to judge climbing on a criterion that nobody cares about within the sport. It's like having a track event where you give the runners scores out of 10 based on how gracefully they run.It seems a shame that the best climbers are going to miss out because they either perform poorly in the speed comp, or else don't perform their best in the lead/bouldering comps because they spend a significant portion of the next 4 years practicing doing one easy route very quickly.
And i disagree with you on the comps. i could watch the surf comps all day (night) when the waves are pumping, especially somewhere like pipe or chopes. Much better than any climbing comp.
I agree with that - I think its a real shame that we probably won't see the some of the best competition climbers who are really specialist, like Ramonet, Jan Hojer, Shauna Coxey - or even Ondra.