Very fast times in the Speed final in Villar with several PBs. It seems the level has increased already three years before Paris 2024. Tokyo olympian Iuliia Kaplina was #2 but made the best time with 7.01 which can be compared with her world record at 6.96. Among the male, Leonardo Veddriq set a new world record in Salt Lake City with 5.21 and although not having any perfect runs he made 5.32 and won. The fastest time during training is 5.05 by his teammate Katibin Kiomal who also made some small errors but anyhow did 5.35 or faster three times.

Janja Garnbret was #13 with 8.01 although doing some minor mistakes. Rishat Khaibullin, who is also going to Tokyo, set a PB with 5.53 and some hours earlier he had made a Lead PB, being #31. Actually, on the first route, he was #18.

1. Leonardo Veddriq INA - Ekaterina Baraschuck RUS
2. Timofeev Dmitrii RUS - Iuliia Kaplina RUS
3. Katibin Kiromal INA - Patrycja Chudziak POL
Complete results (c) Lena Drapella/IFSC

Andy Lamb has done his third 8C, Delirium in Mt Evans which is a harder exit to Wheel of Wolvo, a former 8C, he did three weeks ago.

"The second day dedicated to Delirium I got further than I expected, a few moves from the top my foot popped, and I didn’t feel that tired. I did a few laps on Dismantling the Enemy (second half of Delirium) and it felt pretty dialed by the end of the session. The next session I did Delirium the first time I got through the first crux moves. This one has always been a Colorado testpiece in my mind, psyched to get it done!"

What is next?
I’ve got a few more projects in Colorado I’m psyched on this summer, then hopefully some trips in the US and internationally after that.

Janja Garnbret flashed both routes in the qualification in Villars and runner up was Momoko Abe with one top. Among the male, Stefano Ghisolfi won and topped one route. Interestingly, five topped the first route and five topped the second. The semi, which is live-streamed, starts tomorrow at 10.00. (c) Vladek Zumr

It should be mentioned that several of the Olympic favourites did not participate: Adam Ondra, Tomoa Narasaki, Jakob Schubert, Akiyo Noguchi, Miho Nonaka and Brooke Raboutou.

The Speed qualification in Villars showed remarkable results. In order to make it to the Top-16 final, the male had to make 5.77 and the female 8.17. This can be compared with 6.09 and 8.62 during the World Championship in 2019. Ludovico Fossali won in 2019 and his best time was 5.90 which had put him #24 in Villar.

Olympians Alberto Gines Lopez and Janja Garnbret set PBs with 6.29 respectively 7.92. Janja's time was only beaten by seven girls in the 2019 Championship but and in Villar she was #11, meaning she made it to the final. Complete results

Ted Kingsnorth, who started climbing in 1994 and turns 44 today, has done Jerry Moffatt's Progress 8c+ at Kilnsey. He did his first 8c at age 36 and his first 8c+ one year later.

"Progress is a classic power endurance route with very little rest and with 35 sustained moves of continuous difficulty (the first 7 bolts) leading to good holds and a kneebar before a final pumpy roof to keep success in the balance until the final moves! The crux sequence is around Font 7c in difficulty by the 2nd bolt. It was a long journey to climb Progress over 5 years mainly due to the quite short season that we have in the UK at Kilnsey. Seepage is always a risk and can turn your project into a waterfall overnight or temperatures can be too high for small crimpers in mid-summer. Staying optimistic is essential and you have to be ready for when the good conditions arrive."

How is progress possible 40+?
I think consistency is the key in all training over the long term. I don't follow any training plan, just head outside when conditions allow and train on plastic if too cold or wet, I boulder on my woodie I built in my flat or do one arm assisted hangs over winter. I think its not that important exactly what you do for training, the main thing is to keep up the intensity and stay psyched, then you will see the gains! I make sure I rest more during summer than over winter to allow proper recovery. I hike for 2 - 3 hours on some rest days which seems to help recovery and increase fitness. Also, enjoying the days at the crag increases motivation and sharing in other people's successes is important and helps everybody crank out an extra grade at least!.

Having Progress go on for 5 years was hard on motivation for sure as I got close in 2019 but couldn't regain my highpoint that year and then it got warm and wet. Covid didn't help last year and it was harder to regain the fitness for long routes without proper route training indoors. This year, bouldering on my home woodie I built in January was the key and I felt much stronger on all the moves straight away. It took some weeks to get the route fitness back in May but it came back fine after some hard sessions. Also Eder Lomba found a new kneebar by the 6th bolt which allows a new shakeout, although it was definitely not hands off for me personally. Taking 2 pads up the route was a bit bulky but worth it for sure!

Solveig Korherr has done her tenth 8c the last twelve months, Idée fixe in La Saume. In the 8a ranking game, the 23-year-old is #2. (c) Jon Shen

"Idée fixe was a great power endurance test piece on some tiny crimps and side pulls. Since I knew the upper part of this route already from an 8b that linked into it, I was psyched to just have a look at the rest of the line. The middle crux felt like it could fit me but it was still very hard. I wasn’t sure if I still had enough power endurance to link the hard section after having done more volume climbing and multi-pitching in the last few weeks. But after some beta refinement and perseverance, I was super happy to make a few good tries and finally being able to climb all the way up to the top! In the end, it took me five days."

Adam Ondra flashed Supercrackinette in 2018 which was the first first and only 9a+ flash in the world. In 2012, he had made the first 9a flash by Southern Smoke direct.