[Sarnian]

What did everyone think of Ondra being short roped? It seemed nuts to me, I thought he looked noticeably slower at clipping after that, I can imagine it upsetting his flow/speed quite a bit.

It reminds me, Buster was very close to flashing an 8c/8c+ Carlota earlier this year until his belayer totally short roped him on the dyno.

[Paul B]

What did everyone think of Ondra being short roped? It seemed nuts to me, I thought he looked noticeably slower at clipping after that, I can imagine it upsetting his flow/speed quite a bit.

In general I was surprised at how many clips were fumbled (including watching Tomoa kick the gate after making a meal of clipping one QD)!

[GraemeA]

Have to say among all the non-medalist Insta posts, Ondra's is standout as veering very close to sour grapes. He's obviously an incredible climber, but on the day he was captain average, despite the speed gift. Disappointing.

Yeah, this post is a shocker. Not written by Adam, but hopefully he has oversight and should suggest it gets taken down.

It's super-salty, and paints him as a bad loser.

Can someone copy and paste - I am not on Instgram

[RobK]

Can someone copy and paste - I am not on Instgram

We all watched the first sport climbing comp at the Olympics in history, and we are sure we all have opinions on what has happened 👊 The world has finally gotten to know another wonderful sport. Dynamic, thrilling, creative... beautiful. The one that Adam loves the most. Throughout his wonderful life journey, he has achieved several climbing milestones. But at the finals, within the same conditions for everyone, he ended up sixth in a row of the world's best climbers 💪

No doubt there are winners who rightfully deserve their prices and those who were just not that fortunate. But we hope this won't be too much of a mark to say, that it all just played out quite differently than a lot of us would ever think.

But you can’t outsmart the math, and in the end, it’s just a sport. There will always be somebody stronger, better prepared and yes, without even slightly degrading anybody’s performance having just that little bit more luck on his side 🏆 There will be another comps and another Olympics. All that is left to be said is this: a massive congratulation to @albertogines_, @nathaniel.coleman and @jakob.schubert for their medals. The same level of respect to all who made it to the 🇯🇵 games.

It is a lifetime achievement. See you at the crag.

Check out the full final Tokyo Echo on the website 👉 www.adamondra.com/updates/math (the link is in BIO)

Pics by @pet.phot

Disclaimer: During the OG all the Tokyo Echoes news is brought to you by Adam team members. Thank you very much for understanding.

Adam & AOP team

[User deactivated.]

Is that it?

I was expected something comparable to when David Haye took his boot off in the post-fight press conference, claiming that if only it wasn't for his swollen toe he wouldn't have gotten completely outclassed by Klitschko!

[spidermonkey09]

Yeah, I don't see a lot wrong with it either.

[SA Chris]

and yes, without even slightly degrading anybody’s performance having just that little bit more luck on his side

AO landed with his arse in the butter more than anyone.

[Aussiegav]

Here’s a really good Vlog by fellow Aussie Tom OHalloran about the Olympics

[galpinos]

AO landed with his arse in the butter more than anyone.

Is this a SA saying? Never heard it before but love it.....

[SA Chris]

I thought it was universal, but it appears to be Southern African in origin.

https://idiomorigins.org/origin/bum-in-the-butter

[Fiend]

Just caught up on all the finals (the climbing ones of the combined, at least), but not caught up on the thread.

The unwelcome ruinous intrusion of speed made it genuinely hard to care much or have any investment in the final results. But that was okay because it was still exciting to watch lots of great footage of good climbing. Unfortunately I can't remember much about the Ws as that was a week ago, but I definitely enjoyed it. I think there was some setting imbalance? As with the Ms too.  Ms particular stand-outs were the visual aesthetics of B3, Ondra's near flawless movement on lead, and Jakob bettering that on lead.

The commentator....christ, honestly, even I don't know where to begin with this. The constant blethering, the inane catchphrases, the ear bleeding bellowing, the determination to get even basic things wrong or confused - it was almost satire it was so bad.. If I end up feeling particularly bleak and depressed this winter, I might rewatch it and do a proper analysis of the whole thing.

Basically I'm well psyched for the next season of IFSC viewing.

[Duncan campbell]

I thought Ondra moved brilliantly through the men’s final route. Looked a bit sketchy on the trav right, but everything else unti he fell looked like a redpoint. More rests and better clipping positions than most plus that classic ondra flow. Unfortunately beaten by some Schubert bionicism.

[Bradders]

better clipping positions than most

Since I'm a sport climber now () I was struck watching the lead by how poor many of the competitors clipping positions looked. More so in the qualification rounds than finals. Loads of them seemed to insist on clipping from well below the draw, meaning having to pull up absolutely loads of slack which took ages.

Given they had been able to look at the route with binoculars etc. I'd have thought they'd have been able to spot better stances really.

[Duncan campbell]

 I know what you mean but I wonder if it’s in part down to the fact you can’t skip a clip so maybe some of them opted for getting it clipped as soon as possible? But yeah some seriously shoddy clipping and clip fumbles! These guys are supposed to be the best of the best!

You’ll have to go to Paris in a few years, Bradders, show em how it’s done lad!

[teestub]

Unfortunately beaten by some Schubert bionicism.

Why is it unfortunate that Schubert was stronger than Ondra on the day?

[wasbeen]

I can't help feeling that Ondra climbs well despite his physical attributes, perhaps more so since he has bulked-up training speed...

... [almost] making up for it by being an order of magnitude above the competition between the ears.

[Paul B]

Ms particular stand-outs were the visual aesthetics of B3, Ondra's near flawless movement on lead, and Jakob bettering that on lead.

Surprised you say that as I thought it looks great in the photos now circulating on Instagram but the footage of it during the event was terrible!

[cheque]

Is anyone else finding that “I really enjoyed watching speed climbing at the Olympics” is the new “have you seen Free Solo?”/ “Have you seen that French bloke who climbs skyscrapers?”? 

My colleague who used to compete in the “masters” 200m is very keen to try it out.

[Will Hunt]

On the contrary, I spoke to my non-climbing brother in law who said that he watched all of the climbing finals and was hooked. He thought the speed climbing looked like a rubbish gimmick. He remarked that it looked too easy. He absolutely loved that the bouldering was moves that they hadn't practiced and they had to figure it out on the fly. Thought the lead was very dramatic.
I know that seems unbelievable given my form for hating on speed, its practitioners, and its apologists, but that's what he said with no prompting from me. I even challenged him on whether he found the bouldering boring at all and he said it was a good slow burn will-they-won't-they kind of drama.

I think what impressed him most was that the sport relied on being able to figure out a novel set of complex moves in just a few minutes. Thinking about it, are there (m)any other Olympic sports where this is the case? Mountain biking and canoe slalom courses change but they do get practice runs on them.

[cheque]

I know that seems unbelievable given my form for hating on speed, its practitioners, and its apologists, but that's what he said with no prompting from me.

Your wife clearly did a good job of warning him. 

[Wil]

I think what impressed him most was that the sport relied on being able to figure out a novel set of complex moves in just a few minutes. Thinking about it, are there (m)any other Olympic sports where this is the case? Mountain biking and canoe slalom courses change but they do get practice runs on them.

I don't think there are any others that are directly comparable in this regard. All the ones with changeable courses that I can think of have trial runs (and presumably course designers can simplify sections if needed based on this feedback).

[abarro81]

I think what impressed him most was that the sport relied on being able to figure out a novel set of complex moves in just a few minutes.

Interesting.. my brother was also very impressed that the boulders and lead routes were things that they don't get to preview in the preceding days/weeks. Maybe it's something we take a bit for granted

[teestub]

Lead went down the best amongst non climbing colleagues, I think the ‘being up high’ and the falls are quite impressive to non climbers. Everyone has been complementary about it overall but maybe they’re just being polite. I have been asked what I think about climbing being in the Olympics.

[kingholmesy]

I’ve never bothered watching climbing comps, but really enjoyed the Olympics. Personally I found the lead by far the most entertaining.

On clipping positions I suspect that Duncan is right, and they will have opted for the certainty of clipping from low rather than risk moving higher and finding they couldn’t clip from there.

[Duncan campbell]

Unfortunately beaten by some Schubert bionicism.

Why is it unfortunate that Schubert was stronger than Ondra on the day?

Just wanted ondra to win is all. Thought he really styled the lead for the most part. He’s got such a great way of climbing