Lucka Rakovec from Slovenia started last and executed the four boulders in seven tries, three less than Ai Mori from Japan and nine less than Mia Krampl also from Slovenia. This means probably that Rakovec has qualified to the final. It just might she will have to fight Mia Krampl over the only remaining slot for Slovenia, as Janja Garnbret already qualified. Overall the setting was great were only the five Speed specialists failed to get a top. Anouck Jaubert got all four zones and was pretty close on two tops performing on a much higher level compared to the Speed specialists. However, as she was #4 in Speed she needs more than a miracle to make it to the Top-8 after the Lead event. Noteworthy is that all but two of the non-Speed specialists got all four zones. Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr

One Olympic spot is supposed to be given to an athlete from a small Olympic nation through the Tripartite Commission. However, as IFSC forgot to invite any such climber, this extra spot will go to the next best climber in the World Championship, respecting the country quota. As it stands, before the Combined Continental Championships, Anouck Jaubert from France and Rudolph Ruana are next in line. However, if let us say Fanny Gibert and Sean Bailay get their ticket in these events, their country quota are filled and they are out. Next in line are Di Niu from China and Michael Piccolruaz from Italy who have to hope Yue Tong Zhang and Stefano Ghisofi do not their tickets in the Continental Champonship. In theory, Ievgeniia Kazbekova #20 in the World Championship and Jernej Kruder #16 in Hachioji could, in fact, make it to Tokyo if all results go their way. Here are my speculations who are most likely to get the Tripartite ticket; Michael Piccolruaz 80 % - Anouck Jaubert 60 % Rudolph Ruana 15 % - Di Niu 39 % Jernej Kruder 5 % - Ievgeniia Kazbekova 1 % It should also be mentioned that Ruana has great chances to get the ticket on his own merit in the Continational Championship. The same goes for Piccolruaz but to a less extent. At the same time, none of the mentioned females are likely to the ticket in the Continental Championship.

1. Kokoro Fujii 5 - 2 - 2 = 20 (c) Vladek Zumr 2. Adam Ondra 8 - 3 - 1 = 24 3. Meichi Narasaki 4 - 1 - 7 = 28 4. Bassa Mawem 1 - 8 - 8 = 64 5. Jan Hojer 2 - 7 - 5 = 70 6. YuFei Pan 3 - 4 - 6 = 72 7. Alberto Gines Lopez 7 - 5 - 3 = 105 8. Nathaniel Coleman 6 - 6 - 4 = 144 Complete results Noteworthy is that Adam Ondra stopped his first Speed heat against Bassa Mawem and then choose to not try any more heats. It was said he was feeling ill but nevertheless he was third in bouldering. Good route setting in terms of separation in the boulder final although two almost vertical walls and one just slightly overhanging. In the final, Adam fell one move from the top and actually Kokoro Fujii just one move behind. This was the Japanese best ever Lead result but he will not go to Tokyo as Tomoa Narasaki and Kai Harada already got the slots in the World Championship. The live streaming lasted almost 4.5 hours out of which 105 minutes for the boulder final. “If I were one hundred percent sure that I would be qualified for the Olympics with the eight place, I would not even start the competition because I felt really sick,” says Ondra just after the competition. As the Japanese team filed a complaint with the International Olympic Committee regarding the nomination criteria, Ondra couldn’t be really sure with his qualification for the Olympics: “In this pre-Olympic period of chaos, no one can be really sure of anything. So in the end I decided to enter the competition despite feeling really sick. I was afraid of being eighth and needed to be at least seventh,” Ondra explains his decision.

Fanatic Climbing reports that boulder legend Dai Koyamada has done yet unnamned 8C+ FA. "He described the boulder as a very complicated 10 moves 8B° into a 7C at the lip, with complex and technical moves (he gave no name to his creation). Dai is thinking the grade up to 8C, and gives the 8C+ grade proposition."

Domen Škofic, Lead WC winnwe in 2016 and #3 2018, has done Gancho perfecto suggesting an upgrade to 9a+. It was put up by Chris Sharma as a 9a but then pretty much everyone who has done it has said it is hard for that grade or suggested 9a+. (c) Jan Novak "Yesterday everything came together with my in point movement, perfect conditions, perfect crew, and just enough skin for that one proper try. This route gave me a big and precious lesson. My first feelings on the route were great and I was sure I will send it fast but that was not the case Process lasted for three whole weeks, I spent a lot of tries on it, I pulled my tendon just after few days on it and I felt like I won’t be able to climb in Margalef for a very long time. I spent resting and healing my skin more than ever in my climbing career. I had to wait two weeks and climb other routes that my skin would heal enough to try it again. I had 3 good tries separated in 3 days. The third one was the one and the feeling was and still is amazing. It’s for sure one of the best and the hardest routes I have ever done. This is my 17th 9a or harder and in my opinion, it deserves a grade of 9a+."

"Out in the league of his own in the Speed wall was French Champion Bassa Mawem." This is not correct. Bassa beat Alfian Muhammed by 0.04 seconds which gave the French an Olympic ticket. #3 Jan Hojer was 0.73 seconds behind Alfian.

Stefano Ghisolfi was the first one to Top the Lead route which later also Sascha Lehmann, Alberto Gines Lopez and Adam Ondra did. As Lopez tied Stefano's time, by the second, and later Ondra, climbing last, was the fastest, Ghisolfi lost his Olympic dream and instead finished #12. Although there will be a final on Saturday the six spots to Tokyo are already decided as also Kokoro Fujii and Meichi Narasaki made it to the Top-8 final. The results also mean that both France and Germany have filled their max country quota as Japan did in the World Championship. Complete results 1. Adam Ondra CZE (c) Vladek Zumr 2. YueFei Pan CHN 3. Alberto Gines Lopez ESP 4. Jan Hojer GER 5. Bassa Mawem FRA X. Kokoro Fujii JPN 6. Nathaniel Coleman USA X. Meichi Narasaki JPN Another dramatic example of how much impact Speed had in Lead. If Sasha had been the fastest to Top, he had made it to Tokyo instead of being #15.

Iuliia Kaplina, overall WC winner in 2016 who has won 12 WC's but who has had her worst Speed season for several years in 2019, set a WC PB with 7.37 and won the Speed event ahead of YiLing Song at 7.416. Third was 6.995 world record holder Aries Susanti Rahayu with 7.461 after having slipped in both her races. As there were a total of five Speed specialists dominating, there are still good chances for YiLing Song to advance to the final but Aries needs a miracle. Best by the non-Speed specialist was Kyra Kondie with 8.891 but as she anyhow was just #6 it does not have as much impact with the current multiplication system. Complete results