No Coxsey, McColl, Chon, Narasaki, Harada or Futaba in Meiringen

There are 115 males and 79 females on the starting list of the Meiringen Boulder World Cup in the coming weekend. Some big names that are missing are Tomoa Narasaki, Kai Harada and Futaba Ito from Japan, Jongwon Chon and Chaeyo Seo from Korea, Sean McColl from Canada and Shauna Coxsey from UK. On Insta, Coxsey comments why she will not travel to Switzerland.

"I have made the decision not to attend due to the uncertainty surrounding travel. Under the current guidelines when travelling from the UK to Switzerland you must quarantine for 10 days...".

Even so, there are five females and five males from Great Britain who plan to compete in Meiringen. We asked Molly Thompson-Smith for some comments. "There’s a potential for 10 days of quarantining upon return to the U.K. It’s possible to pay for extra testing and leave after 5days with proof of a negative test. I’m not entirely sure about going as it’s not my primary discipline or focus for the year & will be very very expensive for me to attend. We need 4-5 Covid tests which are expensive on their own, plus there is of course a potential risk of contracting the virus and having to isolate in Switzerland, or not even getting there in the first place! GB Climbing are doing everything they can to support us athletes in getting there and back safely but it’s down to each athlete and whether the cost/risk is worth it as the team (apart from Shauna as she’s on a programme for Tokyo) is self-funded."