After winning the World Cup in climbing on difficulty in France on Saturday, Adam Ondra praised his physical form. The three-time world champion in this discipline was not stopped in Briancon by the accusation of stepping on the rivet in the semifinals, the Czech team subsequently succeeded in protesting.
Ondra took first place in Friday’s qualification and in the subsequent semifinals. “I have to say that in qualifying I was quite nervous at the races after a long time and maybe I checked some steps too much,” said the Czech national team, which has dominated climbing in difficulty in recent years.
In the semifinals, the Brno native already believed much more. “The semifinals were not a pleasant journey at all. It was with several questions, when it was not at all clear how to climb the section, where to put your hands, where to put your feet,” said Ondra.
However, he managed the trip and later the inconvenience was resolved, when the judges accused him of helping himself by stepping on the rivet. “I was again accused of, as well as of the Olympic qualification in Japan, that I allegedly stepped on the rivet. Fortunately, our protest was accepted and it was confirmed that I really did not stand on the rivet,” said Ondra.
In Saturday night’s final, he could then benefit from excellent physical form. He was the only one who could climb to the top of the wall. “I had a great time with the finale. The journey was more endurance, there were not so many uncertain steps and sequences that were hard to read. It graduated with a really difficult endurance conclusion, which was more about the physical readiness I think was good in recent weeks.” stated Ondra.
But according to him, the last meters were really dramatic, a lot of fatigue was already playing a role. “I’ve already taken the last steps, but fortunately I was able to hold this mere catch and click the rope into the final express. It was a really beautiful experience with 5,000 spectators applauding me. I don’t think I’ll forget this victory for a long time,” added Ondra.
This year, climbers met on the world stage for the first time due to the coronavirus crisis. Ondra is already racing with the certainty of participating in the postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he will compete next year in a combination of all three disciplines – difficulty, speed and bouldering.
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