Speed
The day started a bit chilly, but it quickly turned into real China – like weather. In just about an hour it got hot and humid. Therefore I really didn’t need much time to warm up, because it was so hot. I did both practice runs and I felt great on the wall. It was time to set my new PB.
My 1st run went fairly okay and it was enough for my new PB: 8,422s. I knew that I still had some room for improvement so I decided to go “All-In” on the 2nd run. Sadly I slightly miss-hit the hold and fell. Nevertheless I still made progress with the new PB.
Qualification
Speed competition was really a good climbing session before the main event started —> Bouldering.
I felt a bit sleepy so I decided to do a bit longer warm up that usually. Although I thought I would be slow on the wall I realised just the opposite. I felt in flow.
After feeling like that it was pretty much just about keeping my head clear and climbing smart. In the end my overall performance was enough to top every qualification problem and final 11 place.
Semi-final
After making it true to the semis the other day I was really excited to compete in the semifinal round. I remember last years semifinal as a really physical round. I was ready to fight hard and show better performance than last year. In comparison to last year semifinal was this years no exception. We had 2 really physical problems followed by one slab and a “vert”.
As I felt great during all rounds so far I was confident in my climbing and felt relaxed.There I was standing in front of first problem. It was one of those moments when I looked at the problem and knew what I had to do and I started the problem and somehow ended on top by doing exactly what I visualised beforehand.
I was super confident in my climbing and with almost topping 3rd problem I knew that it’s all gonna come down to the last one. I somehow felt that 2 problems will be enough for advancing into finals.
The 4th problem was a slab and I knew that I really improved in slab climbing this year. I was sure I will do the problem and that’s what happened. I was just amazed how things fell together and in the end it was not only enough to make finals but win semifinals.
Final
Anyway, another final yesss!
In no time it was already time for athlete presentation and afterwards observation of the problems. When I saw the problem I had mixed feelings about them as some of them looked really easy and some really tricky. Nevertheless my goal was to top all the problems no matter the final result.
With that in mind I entered the stage, ready for the first problem. It was a crazy coordination problem which I ended flashing and surprising not only myself but the crowd as well. 2nd problem was my least favourite as it was all about compression on slopey volumes.
Somehow I managed to have problems with starting moves instead of the moves around the supposed crux. That was exactly what cost me of the boulder. I was focusing on the crux part while I was already having problems with the first few moves. I should have climb the problem as a whole and not think just about the crux, because I made mistakes before the crux.
Halfway the finals and I was holding the third place as only 2 out of 6 finalists did the 2nd problem. The following problem was a slab and it didn’t look to hard. Everyone was finishing before time and I knew that I have to top it. I was sure to flash the problem but then the problems started… I couldn’t do the second move. My body position was way to far from the wall as I wasn’t putting enough pressure on the left foot.
Now I at least knew what the problem was so the only thing remaining was to correct my mistake. I needed quite a few tries before I managed to do the move and finally top the problem.
4th problem
The last problem was a really hard one and when it was my turn I knew nobody before me had topped it. This was my chance!
On my flash attempt I got the high point of the problem and the crowd went crazy and that gave me the additional motivation to finish the problem. My second attempt was a slip and it was about to get real on my third try.
I did the first dyno. Afterwards I successfully climbed to the crux and placed my body in the correct position for the next and and yess I was holding the last hold and it was only one move separating me from topping the problem. There were so many different ways to do the last move and it was hard for me to decide which one to use as I did not want to fall. Gladly decided for heel hook.
When I was holding the top I just went crazy and then the crowd followed. What a feeling! That really was an unforgettable moment of my climbing career as I was the only one doing the last problem and finally finishing on 3rd place. My first world cup podium – dreams coming true!
