21 August 2011

Pressure of starting last in the boulder final

Debate/Jens: During the 33 Boulder WC's since 2007, only five times (15 %) the female semi winners did also win the final. The best explanation for this is that it is very hard to handle the pressure starting last out listening and understanding your opponents top out before it is your turn. This is also confirmed by the world champion results as Anna Stöhr who won both in 2007 and 2011, actually started first as she was #6 and last in from the semi both times. In 2009, when she won the semi, she was third in the final and instead the #4 in the semi won. The male results shows that Kilian Fischhuber and Adam Ondra with 78 % and 100 % wins, when they also won the semi, are extreme exceptions for the "upside-down" result. If we exclude these remarkable climbers, the male has also a very hard time handling the pressure as as only 13 % did win after starting last out in the final. Since the world champion in2007, when I witnessed how Daniel Dulac, who had flashed all semi problems, did not make a single boulder, I have tried to make IFSC change the format. Nowadays, you do not have to sit looking at the spectators cheering for the other top outs but the current format is unfair and the excitement is often lost in the comps before the last one has tried all boulders.
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