Tomoa Narasaki was the big favorite to win Speed but unfortunately he made a false start. The definition of a false start is that you are not allowed to put pressure on the electronics until 0.10 seconds after the buzzer. Visually, by playing the Youtube video in slow motion, we can see that Tomoa did not make a false start. Instead his movement started after the buzzer and he must have put pressure before 0.10 seconds. The female race started with the same situation for Akiyo Noguchi and was later repeated by Miho Nonaka in the small final. In order to avoid such anti-climax the 0.10 seconds in delay should be removed. Further more, a penalty of one second for every 0.1 second could be added.

The male Combined final begun with the big favorite in Speed, Tomoa Narasaki making a false start in the very first race against Jakob Schubert. In the end, Jan Hojer took a controlled victory of Jakob Scubert. Bouldering got a spectacular start when Narasaki skipped the first zone and instead made a huge diagonal dyno. Later also Schubert and Ondra skipped holds but the record was set by Hojer skipping three holds on Boulder three. Unfortunately everyone flashed the last boulder but apart from that the difficulty level was OK. Starting last out in Lead was Schubert and once he passed Hojer's score he had secured the gold and the commentators were looking for a Hollywood ending with the Innsbruk son becoming the first to top out. Instead Ondra got his revenge winning by five moves over the Austrain securing his Combined silver. Overall it was an over three hours packed intense show which the athletes seemed to like. Happy faces all over with the athletes cooperating as usual in every discipline. The race for the Olympic medals that will be handed out in 23 months. (c) Vladek Zumr

Overall, the World Champion in Innsbruck was a success for the organizer, the route setters and IFSC. On the other hand it is easy to see where simple improvements are possible. 1. False starts in Speed can possibly be reduced by taking out the illogical rule that you have to start 0.1 second after the buzzer. One way of almost solve the problem would be to give one second penalty for every 0.1 second false start. 2. Route setters should have guidelines saying 10 - 14 tops in the boulder final are ideal etc. Further more, there most be a limit of sideway coordination dynos etc. 3. There should be two zones forcing the route setters creating more than just two moves out which one is simple. 4. Reduce the number of not so good participants by saying you have to have been positioned Top-50 in a WC the last two years to attend. 5. Make sure there is count back possibilities based on all rounds especially in order to avoid ties in Lead finals. 6. Multiplication in Combined should be replaced with adding the results of the three disciplines. The advanced solution is to increase to 8 finalists in both Boulder finals as well as in the Combined. This would make it possibly to start rotating on the first three boulders which will save time and create more excitement. Before the last round, only Top-6 will start in reversed order which also will increase the final excitement.

Mile Heyden has done her second 8B+, New Base Line in Magic Wood. (c) Matti Stanik "Falling 3 times at the final jug of this incredibly breathtaking line was one of the most frustrating thing I've ever experienced in bouldering but persistence paid off :) Topping it out with some wet holds was a combination of felicity and heart attack! This line is really one of the most beautiful lines and I'm just super happy, thankful and satisfied to finish this one! More comments and pictures on her Insta.

For the 10th edition, the International Mountain Summit (IMS) in Bressanone/South Tyrol gathers mountain lovers from all over the world. “Meet.Mountain.People.Soul” will be the central theme for this unique festival. In the 2018 edition the stage will be dedicated to a lot of fascinating people and their touching stories. Among the more than 15 speakers, we look forward to welcome the exceptional climbing talent Alex Megos, the world-famous mountaineer Stefan Glowacz or the two stars of the mountains, Tamara Lunger and Beat Kammerlander. The tickets for the six evenings are more than popular. So, grab your friends together and get your tickets for the IMS Nights. It will be worth it and we will give you a warm Welcome at the IMS 2018 from the 8th to the 14th October 2018 in Brixen (I).

In contrast to the previous setting in the Boulder Championship, we did see many Tops but just the Top-6 topped all four boulders. Adam Ondra did only make two and was down at #17 place. The finalists are: Kokoro Fujii, Jongwon Chon, Gregor Vezonik, Kai Harada, Keita Watabe and Nathan Philips. Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr It was super dramatic in the very end when Jernej Kruder could not get a top although getting one hand on the top. In fact, 15 out of 19 did it out of which first go. Nathan Philips is the big sensation and he more or less did all the three last boulders with just seconds left on the clock. Twice he actually crimped a screw hold to move upwards. He has been competing actively in the World Cup for four years and his best ever result is #16.

Kai Harada, who was #3 in the Youth World Championship last month, showed to the best both on the tricky slab as well as the powerful and technical cordination boulders. It was a touching moment when he fell on his knee after he flashed the last boulder and once he looked up on the cheering crowd, we could all see him crying and then covering and wiping his eyes with the T-shirt. Runner-ups, and equally happy, was the crowd pleasers Jongwon Chon and Gregor Vezonik. It seems there are no rivalry among the best, instead they are all a big happy family and that includes also the coaches. 1. Kai Harada JPN 44 - Also qually Combined winner 2. Jongwon Chon KOR 34 9:10 3. Gregor Vezonik SLO 34 9:17 4. Keita Watabe JPN 24 5. Kokoro Fujii JPN 22 6. Nathan Philips GBR 12 Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr

Bassa Mawem was #2 in Speed but ranked #1 among the Combined participants. Although he was among the 20 % last in both Lead and Boulder he was #13 overall. In other words, you do not have to perform on a high standard in all three discipline. What counts is to be good in one. Another example of this is Marcin Dzienski who was second last, out of 87, in both Lead and Boulder but as he was #2 in Speed he was #22 overall. If he instead would have won in Speed who would have replaced Bassa as #13 overall. The example from the female showing that multiplication creates unfair and strange results is Alexandra Rudzinskis #10 overall after 65 * 58 * 1, out of 68. As it stands, she can actually move up to #8 position with bad results in bouldering for her opponents. Interim results

The Female Boulder Semifinal started with another standing on a banner sign situation but luckily it did not happen for any of the 19 to come. Instead, the semi will be remembered by the Japanese favorites saving their show on the last boulder. Miho Nonaka had failed eight times to do the first move, (c) Vladek Zumr, and with 40 seconds left she asked for support from the crowd and then she executed and actually skipped the second last hold and did go double dyno to the Top. On the first boulder, Miho squeezed in a crucial zone on her fifteenth attempt. Akiyo Noguchi had also failed to do boulder #1 and put on her ice face and did the last boulder on her second go. Noteworthy is that on boulder #3, we did only see one zone carried out by Alex Puccio. Further more, Miho Nonaka will start first in the final taking the advantages of lower pressure and fresher holds. Out of the last ten World Championships, 50 % of the golds have been taken by the #6 in the semi. Her biggest opponents is Janja Garnbret who won the semi by three flashes. Stasa Gejo is currently #7 in Combined but if she takes the silver in the final, she will kick out Sol Sa from the Combined final. If Miho would have failed to do the last boulder she could have missed the Combined final. Complete results