WCH Tokyo (In pursuit of Olympic dreams)

Competition was all about combined format, which will leave us with first 7 athletes for the olympic games. Nevertheless the combined competition was the last thing and before I could focus on that I had to go through tough qualification round in all three disciplines (bouldering, lead, speed).

Bouldering

Bouldering was the first discipline on the menu. It was also the discipline I am best at, therefore it was very clear for me that I have to perform well in order to qualify for the combined competition.

I felt confident in my climbing the day before the competition and I was determined to really show my best. Anyway that is always easy to say prior to the competition, as the next day pressure kicks in. Just like that I was already waiting in the isolation zone, warming up for the qualification round. Feeling on the wall was great in comparison to the last few sessions and I felt some sort of relief as I was climbing better than expected.

Nonetheless it’s not about the feeling in the isolation zone, but it is all about showing it on the “mats”. Before moments like this I always try to calm myself and trick into thinking that it is just another competition. No matter the situation I always manage to keep my head together and finish the round without too much stress.

Qualification

The round started and I was off to my first problem. Flash!… and straight back to the “iso”. Second up a tricky slab which I somehow failed to do after falling form the top. Another flash in the 3rd problem really put me up high on the ranking and I was confident in the next 2 problems. Then suddenly everything turned around. With 4th problem being by far the hardest I left the mats without a zone. Later I only managed to get zone in the last problem. I felt like I should have done more, but in the given situation I just felt I didn’t perform to bad.

In the end, luck wasn’t on my side and I was left with 21st place, which was really daunting. I most admit that after the bouldering qualification round I felt so disappointed that I wanted to quit the competition and go home. Really an awful feeling.

“The show must go on” is the saying right? And the good thing was that I had one day off, before going into the lead qualifications.

Lead

Still feeling a bit down from bouldering is how my day of lead qualifications started. But no matter what happened in the past it was time to climb in the present and focus on the next thing. This was lead in my case. I went into the lead round with having nothing to lose and I climbed relaxed and fluent. All of that just faded, when I saw my final result – 42th place! At that moment I just couldn’t believe that, 42th place is reflection of my current shape.

I finished the championship with speed. I didn’t have the best time as I felt slow on the speed wall, but I think that the whole championship was a sign that I need a break from climbing. It’s really hard for me to stay positive with these results, especially after having such a great bouldering season.

I had the best season ever this year and I simply feel bad for not showing my shape at the world championship. It seems to me that after the bouldering world circuit, when I started to train for lead I trained a lot. I think I might burnt-out and that is the reason I could not perform well at the competitions.

Rest

Rest is an important part of the training process and it should not be ignored. It serves as a regeneration for the body and mind.

In my opinion that is exactly what I need right now and I decided to start with my break right after the speed competition. I also managed to find some time to go to the seaside for a few days. Hopefully I will be well rested and ready for the last part of the season.

Now it’s time to relax my mind from climbing and just relax. Surely coming back with new energy and more motivation for the last part of the season. Last give this olympic change all I got!