More info from the new crag with some 800 routes three hours from Athens.

IFSC has experienced some server problems but finally there are the Combined results. What is interesting to see is actually that just a couple of the best male and female participated and none of the best Speed climbers. As an example, Seungwon Cho was close to get the bronze after being 39 - 71 - 37. Regarding the Combined format suggested by IFSC in Paris, the latest news is that they have withdrawn this and they are considering alternative solutions like the one from 8a.

Last year, Tomoa Narasaki was #4 in the Youth World Championship and #30 overall in the World Cup. The Japanese started out 2016 with being #18 and #15 but then something kicked in. During the last six events, his worst result was #2. - I' am so happy about my result and my performance also. My two dreams "World Cup winner and World Champion" have come true this year. I am thankful for all the support. I think my successful result this year is due to changing attitude and environment. I tried to go outside climbing for improving my technical skill. I met a good body training coach last year. I often train how to use my body in the fitness gym. I watched video of Boulder World Cups for learn body position, then I make similar problems to my self. The 170 cm tall and 58 kg heavy guy started climbing when he was ten years old because of his brother. Previously he had been training apparatus gymnastics. Outdoors, he has done 8B+ and he says that he is going for the Olympics in Tokyo 2020 for sure. (c) Eddie Fowke

Adam Ondra was last out on the super spectacular final route and the excitement in the arena was full on. In the end everyone was standing up and once the 23-year-old sticked the last double dyno, he turned to the spectators full of adrenaline and continued to the top. Many of the guys in the live-streaming said it was the best show they had seen. Sport climbing is ready for the Olympic Games. (c) Eddie Fowke - The Circuit

Based on the constraints IFSC has put forward in regards to IOC demands, here is a simple Olympic format solution. All 20 participants will first do one round of Speed, Boulder and Lead. The Top-8 qualify to the final, which is dependent on the ranking sum. In the final round, all 8 finalists will do all disciplines again and the ranking will determine the medalists. Alternatively, only 6 qualify to the Lead superfinal based on ranking sum of Speed and Boulder. Day 1: Speed and Boulder qualification format Day 2: Lead semi format and appointing who is in the Top-8 Day 2: Speed Final Day 3: Boulder Final and Lead Final/Superfinal The advantage of this simple solution is that all competitors will compete in all three disciplines, which is not possible in the IFSC suggestion. Only minimal additions would be made to the World Championships and Continental Championships, which will count as the Olympic qualifications.

Adam Ondra, the double World Champion from 2014, shares his thoughts on the World Championship in Paris, where he was #1 in Lead and #2 in Boulder. "Additionally, there is finally one Instagram account which is official and truly mine." - My overall feeling from Paris is for sure like a dream. I think the whole 2016 season just worked out perfectly in order to be 100% prepared for Paris. Even though I have been focusing on my outdoor projects, I have been in the strict training regime in between the trips and thus trained indoors a lot anyways, especially in the spring season when I was finishing university. And just those few weeks before Paris, I could transform all the training into the plastic - like being used to the PU holds and style of WC routes and boulders. Every day before Paris my confidence was growing and the last training in Innsbruck was extremely satisfying. Being in Paris, I felt strong and confident every single round and that is obviously incredibly important in order to stay calm relaxed, yet motivated. In bouldering finals, I was slightly disappointed also because I felt so good in the previous rounds and I knew I did not make my best, but of course 2nd place itself is great. So disappointment was mainly about my own performance. It is completely possible that if more big names had made to the finals, I would not have been 2nd. But that is the game. I just think that for semifinals and finals of World Championships, the style of setting could have been more diverse. The boulders were mainly technical and feet were smears. It was not necessarily bad for me, I actually like technical problems, but in my opinion, the World Champion should be decided on wider range of problems. But it was bit of a problem of the bouldering wall, which was bit too much vertical/slabby, so the routesetter must have had hard time to set more diverse problems. Lead was just a fairy-tale story. I was a little afraid that I would be a little tired, climbing 5 days in a row, but it did not really affect that much. I think I just got so fit due to the PUC training. I felt a little tired on the warm up, but as soon as I started climbing in the final route, I just felt great. The route was very nice to climb, with different sections and making that final dyno and enjoying the crowd going crazy just before making the easy topout - it was a lifetime experience... Unforgettable... (c) Eddie Fowke catching the moment once again.

IFSC has an athlete commission including eleven of the very best World Cup climbers. "The commission provides a channel for communication between athletes and the IFSC Board." Now it turns out that the representatives were just informed about the IFSC Olympic suggestions one week before the World Championship without any possibility to communicate their opinions. If the best athlete does not agree to the format and boycott the Olympic, climbing will surely be kicked out in 2024. Why do IFSC run an athlete commission if they do not bother to listen to their elected representatives?

In Bouldering finals, the starting order is reversed in comparison to the semifinal Top-6 results, i.e. the first guy out in the final was the last guy to qualify. However, the competitor with the worst semi result is normally the best in the final. In the 12 events since 2007, the athlete starting on fresh holds has won five golds and three silver. Beside fighting with worse friction, the last person out has to deal with much more pressure. In Paris, Akiyo Noguchi was #1 before the last Boulder but she had to listen to the arena exploding when Petra Klinger did it. Later Miho Nonaka finished it as well and by then Akiyo did very well know that she was no longer going to be #1. Instead, she did know that she had to top to get the gold. Suddenly, the winner of the qualification and semifinal, who had also performed best on the three first Boulders, could not handle the pressure. In reality, only one of the girls had worse results on the last Boulder problem. Already in 2007, I started to talk about this "upside-down" result since I witnessed it live in Aviles and spoke to Daniel Dulac. He had won the qualification and in the semi he was the only person onsighting all four problems. In the final, he was dead last with no tops. Daniel said it was just awful to sit and listen to the others top out making the spectators go wild and as a matter of a fact, this was his last competition. What I am putting emphasis on sre five golds and three silvers out of twelve sets of medals. IFSC has to deal with this and find a solution.