26 April 2017

The multi-discipline superiority of Adam Ondra is unique and it is not about physical strengths

Adam Ondra won the Lead World Cup in 2009, onsighted seven 8c's and flashed three 8B's, and has since been the 8a Climber of the year. In 2010, at 17 years old, he won the Boulder World Cup, did his first two 8C boulders and put up two 8c multi-pitches in Madagascar. In practice, it has been like this for nine straight years. Whatever the Czech has been focused on, he has delivered even if he has gone for the extremes like doing the Dawn Wall just two months after he won the Lead World World Championship and was runner up in bouldering. Although, possibly most well-known for his three 9b+' and 15 9b's, the category the 24 year old is most superior in should be onsight. In fact, he was the first to onsight a 9a graded route but for which he gave a personal down grade. In total, he has, with his tough personal grading, onsighted 15 8c+' and three 9a's. No other has onsighted more than one 8c+ or one 9a. What makes Ondra a unique athlete is that he performs at the highest level on everything from few moves explosive ultra power, to 20 min endurance climbing to an ultra marathon 8 days up on the Dawn Wall. Have you ever heard about a 60 meter runner performing also in an ultra marathon? Here is an article from 2009 which tries to explain why Adam is superior more from a technical, tactical and mental point of view. Another possible explanation is his flexibility. He is well-known his knee-drops but at the same time he can sit higher up on his foot like no other. Adam often says that he is not as strong as the best guys and that he has to climb fast because he has not the best endurance. So the reason why he is unique when it comes to multi-discipline superiority in a physical sport, is mainly related to other aspects of climbing rather than the ability of his muscles.
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