Marco Zanone, who has done three 8c+' in 2019, has done his first 9a, Dave Graham's Coup de Grace in Ticino. (c) Matteo Pavana "I started trying this route back in 2016, I was recovering from a bad injury to my middle finger and I was definitely not strong enough for even climbing all the single move, but I knew that I was investing well my time because maybe in the future I would have been able to climb it. Then in Autumn 2017 I came back with my brother Andrea with a different mindset, the conditions were prime and even if I was attending a Film School in Milan with limited time for climbing, my shape was quite good. My progressions on the route was steady and after few days I was able to climbed the route from the second bolt to the top, but adding the 8A boulder problem at the start was another story. I was feeling very close, cause I fall few time at the end of the roof, but then the winter came and I had to give up. 2018 was a bummer, the route was always wet I've never been able to give a proper go from the bottom. This year the spring arrived earlier than ever and after climbing A Muerte in Spain last month I felt ready to come back there. On the second day of attempts I eventually found my self topping out this outstanding boulder of granite, marking my first 9a. My brother Andrea climbed this route back in autumn 2017; I was there belaying him on the send go and since then I've never stopped dreaming to feel all the emotions he felt during that day."

Ema Seliskar has done her fourth 8b+ the last six months, Agresija II in Kotecnik. In the Age & Gender bonus ranking the 14 year old Slovenian is #13. Last year she was between #9 and 12 in all four European Cups she entered. (c) Lucija Tarkuš "Last year I was really nervous on comps, so I couldn't show my best and because of that I decided that I was not ready to compete in the Worlds yet. I am really looking forward and training hard to participate in the Youth Worlds this year in Arco. Nowdays I train 5 times in a week for 3-4 hours a day."

8a first presented climbing ethics in 2003. We used a traffic light visualization in order to say that there is no absolute strict rules. However, when it comes to "world records" we think you should not move towards getting a "yellow card". Do you agree with the presented ethics? "In sport climbing, compared to most other sports, there are few written rules or use of referees. Instead, the climbing community creates and circulates their own Practice & Ethics. Beginners are sometimes struggling to understand what is "normal" behavior and what's allowed and what's not. Over time, the general procedure has been modified and in different subcultures different ethics apply."

Tokyo 2020 has already had a great impact on many of the federations when it comes to funding. Talking to coaches and athletes, many say their financial support for training camps, competition travels and even monthly salary have created much better opportunities. Most probably, this will mean that we will see bigger starting fields and in fact a higher level which the route setters have to adjust to. At the same time, the pressure on the route setters will increase dramatically and it will also be very hard for them to stay independent towards the federations somewhat paying their salary. What they are all aiming for is to set the climbs in Tokyo 2020. Possibly this could be that there will be a slight adjustment towards the preferable style for the often shorter and more dynamic Japanese climbers? Further more, all route setters knows quite well which type of routes and boulders each top climber likes so it will be a very delicate issue to set the only three final boulders in Tokyo. Of course this could also relate to the holds the route setters bring to the scene which some nations will know better than others. Do not forget also that as climbing is getting bigger it will be possible to bet money who will win etc. In the end it just might be that IFSC must set up some rules in order to create as much fairness as possible. Here are some critical info that just might be shared some months before every comp, beside that route setters have to sign documents with all kind of rules. 1. Specify which holds that will be used. 2. Specify the walls and their angels. 3. Specify which types of style

1. Yoshiyuki Ogata - Akiyo Noguchi 2. Jongwon Chon - Futaba Ito 3. Tomoa Narasaki - Miho Nonaka Adam Ondra was supposed to participate but he had to cancel. Recently, Kokoro Fujii and Akiyo Noguchi become Lead National Champions. Akiyo was #2 in Bouldering and #3 in Speed so she seems to be well prepared for getting that Olympic ticket. Her #1 competitor is Miho Nonaka who won Bouldering, #3 in Speed and #7 in Lead. Kokoro was #2 in Speed and #6 in Bouldering and should be the first contender after Tomoa Narasaki to qualify to Tokyo 2020. Tomoa was #2 in Bouldering and #2 in Lead and #4 in Speed. There is a country quota of two male and female but as Japan is the host, only one male and female will qualify by results. The second person will be selected. Ogata tells us that the Japanese World Cup team has been decided but it has not been public yet.

IFSC has signed a four year contract with Dentsu Inc, the world's largest advertising agency, and Synca Creations, a TV production and distribution company. (c) Eddie Fowke "The agreement grants Dentsu and Synca rights to the procurement and negotiation of incoming IFSC marketing and media deals (media rights for Asia Pacific (excluding China), Latin America and the Caribbean) for IFSC events in the 2019-2023 climbing seasons."