4 April 2017

A boulder final can turn into a horror show with the new 4 min rule

Imagine counting down the seconds in a boulder final and the athlete make a mega dyno to the final hold at 3.59, holds the big swing and the crowd goes wild. Few seconds later they might get even more adrenaline in the body as the referee says the boulder was not topped in a controlled way with both hands within 4 minutes. The IFSC rule says that the athlete, within the time limit, "Controlled the marked finishing hold of the Boulder with both hands." Another time dilemma might occur when the athlete reaches the last hold at 3.55 with one hand but touches only the top with both hands at 4.00. The control position occurs 4.01. Imagine the gold in Tokyo will be decided based on a judge subjective opinion in regards tenth of seconds. Probably this will not happen but IFSC must have this in mind, so IOC and the non-climbing spectators do not just shake their heads in 2020. Siked.nl has also published an analisis with a suggestion. There are many solutions and the most drastic one should be to start on two boulders at the same time which would reduce the time almost with 50 %. The solution for the referee problem above is to say that it is good enough to touch the top with one hand within the four minutes limit and then you can use as many seconds you want to control it.
1 comment
Sort by:
Date
Reply
Most commented
Jorge Diaz-Rullo FAโ€™s Cafรฉ Colombia (?) after 240 sessions
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโ€™s already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโ€™s adโ€ฆ
Sean Bailey FAโ€™s Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ€ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โ€ฆ
Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia
Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessioโ€ฆ
Favorites
Jorge Diaz-Rullo FAโ€™s Cafรฉ Colombia (?) after 240 sessions
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโ€™s already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโ€™s adโ€ฆ
Janja Garnbret does Bibliographie (9b+)
Janja Garnbret has added another milestone to her remarkable climbing career by becoming the first woman to climb Bibliographie (9b+) in Cรฉรผse, one of the hardeโ€ฆ
โ€I stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโ€™s World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders. Outdoor bouldering isโ€ฆ