It should be one of the highlights of the Olympic Games. The premiere show of a sport that has never been under five circles in history. Czech climber Adam Ondra will be one of the biggest favorites for gold on the wall. His name is already inflected by prestigious foreign dailies.
Tokyo (From our newsletter) – Spectators could already admire the Olympic premiere of surfing or skateboarding in Tokyo, now it’s time for sport climbing. And as with the previous two industries, the Japanese here have medal ambitions, if not the highest.
But that can make it very difficult for them for a twenty-eight-year-old curl from Brno. The name of Adam Ondra just before the race at the Olympic Games is inflected by famous media addresses.
“There’s nothing he can’t climb,” reads the headline in The New York Times. “Adam Ondra is an extraordinary climber from the Czech Republic who combines outdoor climbing with sport climbing,” the daily adds.
However, the Indian The Indian Express, for example, also writes about the Czech medal hope. “Adam Ondra – remember that name,” the diary advises.
At the same time, however, he encounters the fact that this sport has a controversial form in Tokyo. They compete in a combination of three disciplines: speed climbing, difficulty climbing and bouldering. That is why Ondra, as a master in climbing on difficulty, is careful with forecasts.
“I certainly have some ambitions, but I won’t say them. It all depends on the builders they have prepared for us. I think I’ve done a lot of work in the last two or three years and I’ve moved on my weaknesses, which would give a fairly good chance to good result, “said Ondra.
Other medal candidates include domestic fighters Tomoa Narasaki and Kai Harada or Austrian Jakob Schubert. In order to surpass these stars, Ondra had to work primarily on speed climbing, which is probably his biggest weakness.
However, his acclimatization camp in Korea was ruined by the tightening of hygiene measures. However, just before qualifying, he could touch the climbing wall.
“The organizers built the roads directly on the race wall, which is unusual. I probably haven’t experienced this elsewhere. It’s definitely nice to test what it’s like to climb in heat and humidity,” he praised himself.
Due to the specific Japanese conditions, he brought three types of magnesium, which he puts his hands on before he hits the wall.
“The coarser ones hunt in the bag for longer. The soft ones stick to the fingers quickly, but they quickly get lost in the catches. I mix the three for the race to achieve the best consistency,” he planned.
He was just a little surprised that the humidity that is typical of Tokyo during this period can be seen on the rope.
“When the rope is new, it slides in the groove between my thumb and forefinger, but it didn’t slip much here and I had the impression that I was burning my skin. So I put it in my mouth and then click it,” he explained.
Qualification awaits him today after ten o’clock in the morning Czech time, but in Japan it will be evening.
“At five, when the first discipline starts to climb, the humidity is friendly. And after the ninth, when my favorite discipline is climbing on difficulty, the humidity rises quite a bit. It was 82 percent. That’s interesting, but I’m ready for that,” he promises. Ondra.
Only the top eight will make it to the finals. “Now I’m just trying to tune in well, because it’s important to feel good. I’m ready, I’m not training anything now, just keep up, sleep well and be mentally well,” he added.
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