[edshakey]

I have to disagree. It's a competitive discipline with clear rules which the athletes are fully aware of. Janja must have known that there was another climber on better form than her and that therefore a slow top might not win it for her?

I think the issue is that Janja didn't lose on time - she actually topped the final route fastest - but she lost on countback in a comp where only time differentiated between Ai and Janja.
Qualifiers - both topped both.
Semis - Janja timed out right near the top, Ai topped with 2 seconds to spare.
Finals - Janja topped faster.

It was definitely the right person to win from the way the rules are written, but it shouldn't be this close at the top of the field - it'd be much better to have more separation.

Also, Janja is not a slow climber. She's not been timed out many times before, so the wall height/number of moves was arguably not compatible with a 6 minute time limit. AFAIK the limit was introduced to stop people climbing slowly - so it's probably a bit short a limit if any top only just makes it within the time. Let's leave speed to the speed athletes. It's pretty undeniable that harder routes would have given us a clearer idea of who was better!

More importantly, it was brilliant to see Toby battle his way onto the podium and I'm slightly amazed that isn't the main focus of discussion here. First male podium in lead since 1994 I'm told, awesome if true. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to help out so I got to see some of the action, and returning from doing an airport run just in time to see Toby start in the finals was such a privilege.

First male podium in a senior world cup*. Hamish won bronze at the world championships last year, arguably a bigger feat! And obviously we've had lots of junior world medals, including from Toby himself. But impressive nonetheless. I guess it was just Duma and I who said our congratulations before the debates began 

[danm]

Yeah I missed out senior in my post, still catching up on lost sleep!

[edshakey]

How did the event go, in your experience? Hard to tell with the IFSC social media blackout. Also with all the complaints in advance about tickets - was the crowd full?

[danm]

How did the event go, in your experience? Hard to tell with the IFSC social media blackout. Also with all the complaints in advance about tickets - was the crowd full?

I don't have any prior experience to compare to, but the IFSC delegates were very complimentary about it all being pulled together at such short notice. Due to stepping in when China had to cancel, and not having hosted for a decade or more, it was all a big learning curve. Probably the best thing was because of this it was all hands on deck, and a lot of people like myself who are not involved in the comps side came to help out and got a new perspective on it all. I kinda feel invested in it now in a way I didn't before, and knowing that there were young athletes competing due to the host getting extra places, and how much it meant to them, made it all worthwhile. Thursday night was pretty grim though, not knowing if it could go ahead or not and waiting for guidance from DCMS etc. The crowd was full apart from Speed quals on Friday, the spectator space was heavily compromised by the main arena boulders. Getting rid of them could massively increase numbers but of course you then reduce the day to day climbing space.

[GraemeA]

Ratho hosted the European Lead and Speed Championships in October 2019 so they knew what to do.

[danm]

I think most if not all the organising team were new though Graeme. Shame not to see you there, no cheese comp either :-(

[edshakey]

I am SO happy to see Alex and Hamish both make it through to semis in Jakarta. To be the only ones to make the trip from GB and then not get through would be gutting.

Good luck to them for semis 

[Duma]

Yeah, especially for Alex, good to see him get a chance in semi's.

Odd no Ai Mori, esp given its a much easier trip for the Japanese team?

[Bradders]

Role reversal at the Jakarta WC; all the men fell off in roughly the same place halfway up, whilst the women were much more evenly split by what looked like a good power resistance route with a spicy finish. Different setting teams?

[Potash]

 Has anybody seen any IFSC world cup / world championship viewing figures to see how they have been impacted by the switch to a non-free to view model?

[wasbeen]

I haven't, but I see that the Eurosport player is being discontinued shortly. A Eurosport subscription is/was £40 per year (sometimes £20).   Discovery+ where it is moving to is £60 per year which puts it out of the running for me.

I mainly subscribe to Eurosport for the cycling, so I will probably just subscribe to GCN+ (£40 per year).

[webbo]

I thought Discovery had bought GCN as well as Eurosport.

[wasbeen]

You may well be right. GCN+ are currently allowing subscriptions Eurosport is not. So perhaps they are going to keep GCN+ separate.   

[bigironhorse]

Just catching up on last year's comps. The only way I could find to watch was by using a VPN connected to USA. Where are the replays available in Europe? What is the plan for thia year?

[highrepute]

https://youtube.com/@theclimbingchannel5836

Maybe not what you're looking for but I found these shortened highlights good.