Once again great route setting and a great show but no Top. The big sensation was that Janja Garnbret (SLO) was only #4 and ten moves behind 17-year-old Chaehyon Seo (KOR). On the other hand, in 2019 Seo did win over Garnbret in four World Cups out of six. Runner-up was Jessica Pilz (AUT), who injured a finger badly in May, followed by Akiyo Noguchi (JPN). Interesting was also that Speed specialist Anouck Jaubert (FRA) followed up her great Bouldering performance by being #15. This means that two Speed specialists have qualified for the final. The biggest setback was Laura Rogora (ITA) being #10 after having struggled doing practically all, somewhat reachy moves, right from the start. (c) Jon Glassberg/Louder than 11

1 Seo Chaehyun (KOR) 40+
2 Pilz Jessica (AUT)33+
3 Nonaka Miho (JPN) 30+
4 Garnbret Janja (SLO) 30
5 Meshkova Viktoriia (RUS) 29+
6 Noguchi Akiyo (JPN) 27+
7 Krampl Mia (SLO) 26+ (3:16)
8 Raboutou Brooke (USA) 26+ (3:40)
9 Chanourdie Julia (FRA) 25+
10 Rogora Laura (ITA) 25
11 Condie Kyra (USA) 22+
12 Yip Alannah (CAN) 21+ (2:14)
13 Coxsey Shauna (GBR) 21+ (2:23)
14 Klingler Petra (SUI) 16+ (1:49)
15 Jaubert Anouck (FRA) 16+ (2:14)
16 Mackenzie Oceania (AUS) 15+
17 Kaplina Iuliia (RUS) 14+
18 SONG YiLing (CHN) 13+
19 Miroslaw Aleksandra (POL) 12
20 Sterkenburg Erin (RSA) 20 7+

Here is the results after 2/3 stages. All the favourites have set themselves in a good position in order to advance to the final. For the male, 550 points were needed to make it to the Top-8. We have added a speculation Lead score for each woman in order to get as close to 500 points as possible. The biggest sensation is that there are actually chances to have two female Speed specialists into the final, as Anouck Jaubert should get below 500 points. However, it is very hard to predict which score is needed to make the final. It just might be closer to 400. On the picture by Jon Glassberg/Louder than 11 is Viktoriia Meshkova who probably needs to be Top-5 in order to make the final.

1 Garnbret Janja (SLO) 14 * 1 = 14
2 Miroslaw Aleksandra (POL) 20 * 1 = 20
3 Raboutou Brooke (USA) 12 * 2 = 24
4 Jaubert Anouck (FRA) 2 *13 = 26 ( * 19 speculated in Lead = 494)
5 Noguchi Akiyo (JPN) 9 * 3 = 27 ( * 19 = 513)
6 Nonaka Miho (JPN) 4 * 8 = 32 ( * 16 = 512)
7 SONG YiLing (CHN) 3 * 19 = 57 ( * 9 = 513)
8 Coxsey Shauna (GBR) 16 * 4 = 64 ( * 7 = 448
9 Condie Kyra (USA) 7 * 11 = 77 ( * 6 = 462)
10 Seo Chaehyun (KOR) 17 * 5 = 85 ( * 6 = 510)
11 Kaplina Iuliia (RUS) 5 * 18 = 90 ( * 5 = 450)
12 Meshkova Viktoriia (RUS) 15 * 5 = 90 ( * 5 = 450)
13 Yip Alannah (CAN) 6 * 16 = 96 ( * 5 = 480)
14 Pilz Jessica (AUT) 11 * 9 = 99 ( * 5 = 499)
15 Klingler Petra (SUI) 10 * 10 = 100 ( * 5 = 500)
16 Chanourdie Julia (FRA) 8 * 15 = 120 ( * 4 = 480)
17 Rogora Laura (ITA) 19 * 7 = 133 ( * 3 = 399)
18 Mackenzie Oceania (AUS) 13 * 12 = 156 ( *3 = 468)
19 Krampl Mia (SLO) 18 * 14 = 252 ( *2 = 504)
20 Sterkenburg Erin (RSA) 20 * 17 = 340 ( * 1 = 340)

Janja Garnbret (SLO), who was #14 in Speed, came back in the fantastic style she is famous for by flashing all the four great dynamic boulders. All the favourites made good performances. Ranked second and third were Brooke Raboutou (USA) and Akiyo Noguchi (JPN). The only medal favourite not really coming up to her normal standard was Miho Nonaka being #8. Just ahead was Laura Rogora, who saved her day by getting one boulder in her first try just after having gotten only the zone on the first two boulders. The biggest sensation was that Speed specialist Anouck Jaubert #13 with one top.

1 Garnbret Janja (SLO) 4T4z 4 4
2 Raboutou Brooke (USA) 3T4z 4 4
3 Noguchi Akiyo (JPN) 3T4z 5 4
4 Coxsey Shauna (GBR) 2T4z 3 4
5 Seo Chaehyun (KOR) 2T4z 5 5
6 Meshkova Viktoriia (RUS) 2T4z 8 5
7 Rogora Laura (ITA) 1T4z 1 5
8 Nonaka Miho (JPN) 1T3z 2 3
9 Pilz Jessica (AUT) 1T3z 3 5
10 Klingler Petra (SUI) 1T3z 3 8
11 Condie Kyra (USA) 1T3z 4 5
12 Mackenzie Oceania (AUS) 1T2z 3 2
13 Jaubert Anouck (FRA) 1T1z 4 1
14 Krampl Mia (SLO) 0T4z 0 5
15 Chanourdie Julia (FRA) 0T3z 0 9
16 Yip Alannah (CAN) 0T2z 0 2
17 Sterkenburg Erin (RSA) 0T1z 0 1
18 Kaplina Iuliia (RUS) 0T1z 0 2
19 SONG YiLing (CHN) 0T1z 0 5
20 Miroslaw Aleksandra (POL)

Lots of emotions, personal bests and big smiles in the female Speed qualification. Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) set two PB's and won the stage. She set the Olympic Record with a time of 6.97, just 0.01 seconds away from the world record. This means that the Pole has very excellent chances of qualifying for the final. The biggest frustration we saw from the world record holder Iuliia Kaplina slipping on the very last foothold when it looked like she was going to set a new world record. Miho Nonaka looked to be in superb speed shape, setting a great PB with 7.55. The big favourite to win the gold, Janja Garnbret, with a PB of 7.91, slipped in both races and got 9.41 but it actually did not look like she is in supershape. Alannah Yip's 7.99 should also be mentioned and she just might be an outsider getting into the final although she has not done any World Cups in 2021.

1 Miroslaw Aleksandra (POL) 6.97 (OR)
2 Jaubert Anouck (FRA) 7.12
3 SONG YiLing (CHN) 7.46
4 Nonaka Miho (JPN) 7.55
5 Kaplina Iuliia (RUS) 7.65
6 Yip Alannah (CAN) 7.99
7 Condie Kyra (USA) 8.08
8 Chanourdie Julia (FRA) 8.17
9 Noguchi Akiyo (JPN) 8.23
10 Klingler Petra (SUI) 8.42
11 Pilz Jessica (AUT) 8.51
12 Raboutou Brooke (USA) 8.67
13 Mackenzie Oceania (AUS) 8.83
14 Garnbret Janja (SLO) 9.44
15 Meshkova Viktoriia (RUS) 9.54
16 Coxsey Shauna (GBR) 9.65
17 Seo Chaehyun (KOR) 10.01
18 Krampl Mia (SLO) 10.43
19 Rogora Laura (ITA) 10.50
20 Sterkenburg Erin (RSA) 11.10

1. Janja Garnbret 6 * 1 * 2 = 12
2. Miho Nonaka 5 * 2 * 7 = 70
3. Chaehyon Seo 15 * 5 * 1 = 75
4. Brooke Raboutou 8 * 8 * 4 = 256
5. Laura Rogora 16 * 6 * 3 = 288
6. Akiyo Noguchi 13 * 3 * 8 = 312
7. Iuliia Kaplina 1 * 19 * 19 = 361
8. Viktoriia Meshkova 10 * 7 * 6 = 420

Not into the final
9. Petra Klingler 7 * 4 * 17 = 476
10. Mia Krampl 14 * 9 * 5 = 630

Here are some further detailed comments, who will make finals.

Eric Hörst has published a video of Bassa Maẃem's catastrophic muscle/tendon failure in his left biceps, on his Insta, Training for Climbing. Eric says that "this bicep tear is likely the result of excessive speed/power training making the tendon too stiff (i.e. stiffer than the bicep is strong)."

Alexey Rubtsov had a similar injury for two years and shares some of his knowledge. "I tore my biceps in competition and next week I wait for surgery. It is not possible to do anything. In a good scenario, it is 2-4 months of rehabilitation and a year before the start of serious training. I returned to strength training in June of this year, i.e. two years after the injury. I will never repeat most of the strength training.

I tore my biceps because I was training wrong. I started to prepare for the Olympics, ran speed, climbed difficulty and did not reduce the amount of bouldering. I was always overtrained, did not do rehabilitation exercises for the shoulders, only trained strength. And at one point my strength crippled me."

Bassa has confirmed that he has suffered a complete rupture of his lower biceps tendon meaning he will not compete in the final.

Team Ondra has sent out a press release with some interesting comments from Adam: "Boulder has probably been the weirdest in recent times. Just after I finished the last boulder, I thought that I did not perform well and I would end up somewhere in the middle of the starting field. But in the end it was third place."

Here he comments on his Lead performance: "As I really wanted to be sure with every single step, I burned a lot of energy. You can't climb like that in such moisture and I am sure it is a good lesson for me for Thursday. I have to take more risks."

IFSC has published their male qualification report including comments by Adam Ondra. “It's a big step for Sport Climbing. In the world of the competition, it's been a big dream for years, and climbing deserves to be here as a sport. Unfortunately there's only one set of medals, but it will be a good stepping stone for the future where hopefully it will be all three single disciplines."

Offical Speed personal best rankings: (It should be noted that most of the athletes have made faster times during practice and non-official competitions.)

6.96 Iuliia Kaplina RUS
7.10 YiLing Song CHI
7.12 Alexandra Miroslaw POL
7.32 Anouck Jaubert FRA

7.91 Janja Garnbret SLO
8.19 Miho Nonaka JPN
8.43 Kyra Condie USA
8.45 Oceania Mackenzie AUS
8.59 Petra Klingler SUI
8.73 Julia Chanourdie
9.11 Akiyo Noguchi JPN
9.12 Brooke Raboutou USA
9.14 Shauna Coxey GBR
9.16 Viktoria Meshkova RUS (8.64 in training)
9.16 Alannah Yip CAN
9.43 Mia Krampl SLO
9.56 Jessica Pilz AUT
10.51 Laura Rogora ITA
10.70 Chaehyun Seo KOR

12.04 Erin Sterkenburg RSA

The screenshot is from www.Olympics.com which also has a very good live reporting.

The route setters were almost spot on creating an interesting route, although half had a tied score. From a spectator point of view, it was a bit sad that after a rather good start, the performance declined until the very end. The biggest surprise was that Adam Ondra was #4 but it looked more like a technical mistake rather than being pumped out, although he looked a bit tense. Youngsters, Colin Duffy (17) and Alberto Gines Lopez (18) made possibly their best Lead performance ever. Interesting is that Lopez has competed in almost double as many IFSC comps in 2021 compared to all other Olympians and he has actually been beaten by several in Euro Youth Cups earlier in 2021.

Jakob Schubert, the most experienced competition climber in the field, could, just like in the Bouldering event, handle the extreme pressure and win. It should be mentioned that Nathaniel Coleman also made his best Lead route ever, which took him to the Top-8 final.