IFSC World Cup Salt Lake City 2021 || Boulder finals

[@ShakespeareanBroncobuster]

I loved that standing O for Narasaki after the home crowd gave Bailey one first. Very welcoming for international athletes.

[@nigellee2698]

Gghyh he

[@alexhubanov1526]

If I wanted to watch parkour or athletics, I would've tuned in to a parkour or athletics stream. The men's competition was completely unenjoyable for me.

[@RicardoRocco90]

yes agreed! so boring

[@juhanikuronen6944]

Stopped watching mens middle of 2nd boulder. I can take max. one parkour boulder per competition. Would prefer none of course.

[@oanasimon1983]

The route setters overcooked the mens' boulders unfortunately.

[@Rufgaudas]

and undercooked women's as well, to many tops.

[@mattiasgonczi]

No but the opposite in the other final...

[@abcdefgh-zz3ep]

It was frustrating for me

[@TheZgegator]

It was ridiculous 🤣

[@Hesoos]

Fail :/

[@TheAlbinoskunk]

Oriane falling off at 0:31 and speedrunning the climb to top out with time to spare was absolutely incredible

[@kristianrother]

Oriane is quickly becoming my favorite climber. Her style is great to watch and she seems so relaxed. Crazy to think she is only 16.

[@Thuky1]

The men acrued a combined total of 4 tops and 11 zones whereas the woman managed 19 tops and 3 zones. If the goal of setting these boulders was to achieve maximal speration between the competitiors they clearly failed, twice.

[@babsds0]

I'd say the separation among the woman was fine. You've got to realise that a small tweak in difficulty on the problems is the difference between multiple women getting 3+ tops, and almost no one topping anything.

[@vengal6251]

ther was good separation for the men but the Boulders where a bit boring to watch

[@Thuky1]

@@babsds0 I feel like the difference between 1st and 2nd place was marginal this time. Winning because you took 2 fewer attempts to top than the 2nd place competitor hardly showcases any difference in performance. Not to take anything away from the winners, but hopefully with more suitable setting their wins would have been much more emphatic.

[@KingColliwog]

@@babsds0 Nah, too many tops and more importantly way too many flashes. 1st place being 4 flashes and 2nd being 4 sends in 6 tries is not good. Mens final was abolutely terrible

[@hazellao8047]

Dropping by to debunk all comments saying that it's impossible to have bias among the routesetters to favor the American climbers "because the routes are set by a team of international routesetters." FYI, 2 out of the 4 routesetters on this comp were American based on the info sheet from the IFSC website. Chief Routesetter: Jamie Cassidy (GBR) Routesetters: Garret Gregor (USA), Yann Genoux (GBR), Flannery Shay-Nemirow (USA) And it's interesting to note that Garret Gregor was also the former Director of Operations at Team ABC, owned by Brooke Raboutou's parents and where Natalia Grossman also trained.

[@archsiertgkcoer]

I wish your comment got more attention. This is troubling, to say the least.

[@ktape3211]

Thank you for mentioning this, hopefully more people will see your comment. I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but the consistency with setting almost nothing but easy slab boulders in both SLC women’s finals combined with the info you provided does raise a lot of suspicion. It’s really a shame to try to highlight a country’s own athletes through biased route setting rather than allowing them to showcase their true abilities on challenging and diverse boulders.

[@sculpturesquid]

Honestly! I hate to be that person but it definitely felt fishy right from the start. It was like 'oh hey...they //know// these moves a little too well

[@hazellao8047]

He wasn’t just a routesetter. And i quote from his Facebook description of his former job at Team ABC, “I coach A(merica's) B(est) C(limbers) and I absolutely love it!!” He coached these two young athletes so obviously he would know what their style and strengths are. Not to discredit that Brooke and Natalia are strong and amazing though, it’s just fishy.

[@dyndu2074]

I knew something was off when 2 American female climbers flashed the first problem while other world class athletes couldn't, and then made every other problem look easy, almost like they've done them before (hmmmm). I have a strong suspicion these two won't be able to re-create their success when their trainer won't be route setting for them.

[@anateixeira7402]

*Men1* 12:35 Milne 16:54 Fujii 21:41 Ogata 26:15 Galla 30:54 Bailey 35:10 Narasaki *Men2* 40:07 Milne 44:25 Fujii 48:53 Ogata 53:15 Galla 57:30 Bailey 1:01:44 Narasaki *Men3* 1:09:02 Milne 1:13:22 Fujii 1:17:31 Ogata 1:21:46 Galla 1:26:14 Bailey 1:30:10 Narasaki *Men4* 1:35:07 Milne 1:35:07 Fujii 1:43:43 Ogata 1:48:00 Galla 1:48:00 Bailey 1:55:08 Narasaki *Women1* 2:05:28 Grossman 2:07:15 Gejo 2:11:20 Raboutou 2:14:10 Bertone 2:18:40 Nonaka 2:23:10 Garnbret 2:25:20 Grossman *Women2* 2:26:30 Gejo 2:31:02 Raboutou 2:32:45 Bertone 2:37:04 Nonaka 2:41:09 Garnbret *Women3* 2:45:40 Grossman 2:47:13 Gejo 2:50:46 Raboutou 2:53:35 Bertone 2:55:45 Nonaka 3:00:00 Garnbret *Women4* 3:02:07 Grossman 3:04:05 Gejo 3:07:38 Raboutou 3:12:10 Bertone 3:15:20 Nonaka 3:16:49 Garnbret

[@xANTHQNY]

doing god's work

[@blackmarlin3166]

The men's boulder is overkilled

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

too much jumping (and I love parkour, but I'd like for the two sports to remain separated)

[@RicardoRocco90]

borriiing

[@deshelledturtle355]

Men's: Just jump bro. Women's: Hope you brought soft shoes.

[@rixdalerheptads1505]

I am getting a concussion just from watching the men fall on the top dyno of M4. How could anyone in the IFSC think that this is save enough? What are we testing the athletes there? Their stuntman abilities?

[@alpenacademy]

Imagine a competition weekend, where in semis, the director isnt sleeping and missing most of the tops and in the finals the routesetters are not totally baked... That would be great

[@IarthoI]

the director miss only one top in semis ;)

[@findielfuchs3761]

I love Miho, she didn't have the best run this time but she was stunning in speed on Friday😔😍

[@BoulderingHighlights]

MIHO CHANNNNNNN

[@ericjones3692]

That might be why she was possibly wore out by the bouldering finals.

[@F41LZZz]

what was with Yoshiyuki Ogata not getting the zone on bolder 3? in the end it wouldn't have changed anything but it was odd when they gave the zone to the other 3. he clearly was stable on the zone.

[@Kurott0]

I totally agree here Found it really weird that they did not gave it to him

[@rock_your_boat]

I agree... kinda. I'm not sure about the rules about it though. As Stasa was commenting in a previous event I think she elaborated on that. I just checked the rules @IFSC but couldn't find anything about that which is just as weird honestly.

[@Zekew24]

Awful call by the judges, I'd say Ogata had better control of it than anybody else on that attempt. Maybe if he hadn't doubled back and grabbed it longer a second time I could understand that call, but he did.

[@ludvigericson6930]

Yes or Sean McColl being awarded a clearly not controlled top in the semis. He even looked surprised himself lol. All around clown fest this one.

[@Mikkarus]

Zone is given once used for further movement. Position stability is not a criterion. So that was 100% correct.

[@Triggerboy78]

M2 jump was terrible.. high risk of finger injuries. The bottom sequence was ok, but the jump was just awful.

[@ericvuillemey2135]

It will be interesting to see the statistics at the end of the season for US climbers. So far, outside the US : No win (out of a possible 2) and 1 podium. In the US : 3 wins (out of a possible 4) and 5 podiums. These are actual numbers without any comment or judgment. As a statistician, I will need more data to make any kind of comment. So let's see how the rest of the season unfolds, including the Olympics. PS : And for those who think I may be biased, Natalia is my second favorite female boulder climber in the world and Sean is my favorite male boulder climber. I really regret both of them won't be able to participate in the Olympics, the selection having been made last year. Natalia's blooming is great for boulders and will keep Janja on her toes. She may not be as powerful as Janja yet (as the semi finals show) but she is sooo smooth and make very few mistakes, including "decyphering" routes ! Watch out when she gets a little stronger ... In lead, Janja will have to beware of Akiyo and Ai (japan), Seo (Korea), Laura (Italy) and Oriane (France), the last 4 being 20 years of age or less (Oriane just turned 16 !).

[@sladki6ka]

I think it has a little bit to do with the psychology of competing in front of a home crowd, I am pretty sure there are studies on those effects, particularly in football. Last week and this week in the US, or in Russia where Viktoriia Meshkova who crushed it in Russia or Jan Hojer in Munich. Obviously not always the case, but I think it plays a role.

[@androgynousmaggot9389]

Natalia was also the only one not training 3 disciplines! Also, here Miho was training speed to compensate for her average lead

[@amtothepmclimb6174]

Men Starts at 12:31 Result M1- 39:40 M2- 1:06:07 M3- 1:34:36 M4- 1:58:08 Milne 12:31 40:05 1:09:01 1:35:16 Kokoro 16:54 44:26 1:31:21 1:39:36 Ogata 21:40 48:50 1:17:32 1:43:45 Galla 26:12 53:21 1:21:51 1:48:03 Bailey 30:50 57:37 1:26:11 1:52:50 Tomoa 35:08 1:01:37 1:30:08 1:55:10 Women Starts at 2:05:22 Result W1- 2:25:02 W2- 2:43:11 W3- 3:01:46 W4- 3:19:26 Natalia 2:05:22 2:25:27 2:45:41 3:02:07 Gejo 2:07:11 2:26:32 2:47:11 3:04:09 Brooke 2:11:26 2:30:59 2:50:48 3:07:39 Oriane 2:14:08 2:32:44 2:53:37 3:12:16 Miho 2:18:40 2:37:06 2:55:46 3:15:24 Janja 2:23:14 2:41:10 3:00:03 3:16:45

[@cymcintosh4417]

Ur my hero

[@rmirmn1777]

Thank you for doing this again!

[@BarlogVey]

Thank you!

[@dadbod4038]

is it just me or does anyone else feel the setting for this comp looked poor.

[@tambling3961]

Beyond poor, it's total crap :(

[@cheznikos]

Worst setting I can remember of. Total joke. Men's boulders were mostly about getting lucky. Women's were like what V8/9? What a shame. Almost makes you wonder if they somehow intended to favor US climbers. I'm glad Ondra avoided this bs. He smelled that shit!

[@juhanikuronen6944]

Add there some useless zone placements e.g. women 4. If you made it to zone (with more than 5 seconds left) you would finish the route with 100% chance.

[@brettkinney1381]

nearly every guy fell like 3 moves in and like 4 feet off the ground. Very boring to watch and incredibly dishearten for the athletes.

[@walterlotte4215]

Probably some of the worst routesetting I have ever seen. Glad this doesnt happen too often.

[@RicardoRocco90]

yep you are right

[@tajni21]

Totally agree

[@thorna100]

the mens except for maybe that last boulder was so Dull to watch. Ask most climbers, they don't enjoy techy tricky dual tex climbing and im sure the athletes don't feel too inspired by it either haha.

[@ktape3211]

Sadly happened twice with both women’s finals in the SLC world cups. At least the first Salt Lake cup had W4 (with a dynamic coordination move), but apart from that the boulders for both women’s finals were all straightforward slab/precision footwork problems that suited the strengths of the American climbers and were too easy to flash in general. Glad that Innsbruck is up next, the European world cups tend to have better setting in general.

[@Aleesedbsk]

Agreed

[@vereenigdeoostindischecomp1555]

These men's boulders are the hardest I have ever seen at an IFSC comp.

[@abcdefgh-zz3ep]

Natalia Grossman's moves are so smooth and poised. I love watching her climb

[@maddiepilz5711]

That power scream from Bertone on W1 😱

[@TheCosTx]

Interviewer: "how many ads do you want?" IFSC: "Yes"

[@xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

What ads? I saw zero.

[@philveal1427]

Almost unwatchable due to constant adverts.

[@xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

@@philveal1427 Its 2021. There is literally no reason to see adds on KZbin anymore.

[@VinceW187]

Got to be a mistake by youtube, got all my adds at the beginning

[@peebojam]

I've never stopped watching a tournament until today. Absolutely horrible.

[@y4psE]

The route setting for women final is way too easy than the semi final. In addition, it is very obvious that it's so easy that as long as you don't make any careless mistakes, you can win. Not a fair game, it's not hard enough to test the climbers' abilities. Very disappointed.

[@MsBestPilotEver]

My thoughts exactly.

[@KingColliwog]

Yeah it was ridiculous. The male setting was somehow even worst

[@eliablondeau3046]

I feel like men's boulders were exactly like me trying dynos at training lol

[@diiana_aiupova]

lmao same

[@katecammeraat5029]

Climbing starts at 12:30

[@chelsearhodes2407]

🙌🏼

[@Crimp476]

Ty

[@Perfidiouswulff]

Spoiler alert, the men’s climbing never starts.

[@ankitasehgal03]

The men boulders made me so angry. It was not fun for anybody, not the contestants or the audience.

[@karelpgbr]

Oriane speedrunning that first boulder in the last 31 second was so funny, struggling the whole way, then just getting it at the end with 5 seconds to spare!

[@TI-lq6cf]

1:55:03 Amazing Flash by Tomoa

[@ChessHistorian]

A moment of appreciation for whoever designed the score graphic convention of showing the standings with a series of vertical bars representing progress up each challenge. That translucent overlay was perhaps the best I've seen in sports history. Good graphic design should always feel this obvious and natural, after-the-fact of its implementation. Like with climbing, though, you don't see most of the effort, and it's easy to miss the top.

[@thorna100]

Im realising more and more what a loss Charlie was from the commentary. Or at least commentators who are doing the circuit. Would have prefered Matt Groom to carry on even. Charlie used to get in gues commentators and he was really knowledable on the athletes from years on the circuit. He also kept it real and didn't say thing liike 'what an exciting final' after a dull final.

[@M.Bo.]

So true!!! My favorite commentators were Charlie together with Mike Langley or when he had one of the athletes, who did not make the final, joining him. That was always a very interesting combination. I loved Charlie's chill attitude. Is he not coming back to commentating other world cups?

[@TheZgegator]

We want Charlie back !!

[@thorna100]

@@M.Bo. no he retired from it and moved on to other things.

[@rixdalerheptads1505]

As far as I understand the IFSC is going to have different commentators for the Americas and Europe. So I am sure Matt will be back for the comps in Europe. Maybe that is only temporary because of Covid though.

[@kimediamond]

I think it's great they have a woman climber as commentator. But please - and I know this sounds prejudiced - stay away from having two American commentators. They're awful. Matt and Charlie are so much better and they don't compulsively praise everything and treat the audience like little babies.

[@Kurott0]

Is it me or it feels like Janja does not really plan, just has fun as she goes

[@joserezza03]

I feel like she adds extra challenge by trying to onsight these boulders. Once she reads them properly, it's pretty much a flash for her. Game over for everyone else. She's too good.

[@constanceelaine3909]

@@joserezza03 except Natalia

[@juhanikuronen6944]

and still she pretty much flashed them all. Two attempts wasted due to foot slips at the start hold. Too easy setting for women.

[@joserezza03]

@@constanceelaine3909 Janja has start bringing her A game from now on with Natalia on the tour.

[@dyndu2074]

@@joserezza03 Only if Natalia brings her trainer to set the routes like he did here.

[@pierrez8570]

This has to be the worst final we've seen in a while. Men's boulders were too hard and always in the same dynamic style (not to mention dangerous, wtf was that 4th boulder?!), women's boulders were way too easy. Natalia is a beast but a true fight vs Janja would have given more spectacle, this just came down to two silly mistakes Janja made and they looked equally comfortable on the boulders. Poor route setting here sadly.

[@Selfreplyingbot]

Couldn’t say it better.

[@RicardoRocco90]

you said it all my man

[@lordguan99]

They are not even in the same class. There was either advance insider route preparation to assist the Americans or the route setters just purposely made the women's route "kinder" to cater to their athlete's abilities. In no other world tournament would Janja lose to these upstarts. Haha.

[@Rufgaudas]

@@lordguan99 Well Janja completed all the boulders with ease, but a very silly mistakes cost her, but as commentators said - that's a good learning experience for her to wait few seconds.

[@ktape3211]

Well said, those swan dive falls on M4 were just asking for someone to be injured, not to mention the shoulder tweaks that could’ve come from the other jumps. And the women’s final was just a flashing slabs competition instead of a who can climb the greatest variety of challenging boulders comp. Not to discredit Natalia as she’s a great climber, but it’s highly unlikely that she would’ve beaten Janja if the boulders weren’t all straightforward slab climbs that were easily flashable.

[@ktape3211]

Honestly the route setting is quite disappointing for this comp. Boulders should test the holistic ability of climbers, not focus on one specific type of boulder. Women’s final was too easy and the problems were all slab/precision footwork type boulders. The men’s final was more parkour than climbing, watching climbers attempt a jump over and over again shouldn’t be the theme of all the boulder problems. The Salt Lake wall here is far too slabby and uniform (barely any incline or angle diversity), route setting is subpar and too targeted at a singular skillset, and the commentary is awkward and minimally insightful at best. Glad to see Stasa in the finals, but the quality of commentary from her and Matt in Meiringen is sorely missed :(

[@Stewbertgrant]

Did you make sure to eat today?

[@Perfidiouswulff]

Fully agree. Such a shame.

[@Mr.Grampians]

Did you literally make your account today just to make this negative comment?

[@Laura147HLY]

Honestly the women's settings seem pretty good to me, they are more like bouldering on real rocks, maybe a bit on the softer side but still enough to separate all the climbers.

[@FabienVERO]

That wall is seriously outdated forcing the setters to set weird and uninteresting betas. Commentators are seriously bias toward american climbers.

[@deshelledturtle355]

The way Megan just said "wrong beta" or "wrong move" when the competitors are trying out unintended beta for the problems just rubbed me the wrong way. As a climber herself, she should know that there are multiple ways to tackle a problem. Heck, it's called a "problem", not a "solution", so you can't be right or wrong. And then when people did actually beta break, she didn't correct herself and said "oh I was wrong", but instead said something like "well this is another way to do this problem" 🤦‍♂️. I know she doesn't have bad intentions, but as an official commentator, I feel like she could work on her wording a bit more.

[@xxavior2012]

This is one of the only valid criticisms of the comp that I’ve seen so far in these comments. Well that & that man’s 4 seemed unnecessarily risky for injury. But yeah as a tall climber who climbs at a gym with short setters, I often have the conversation about how the intended beta is simply irrelevant if it can be done another way securely

[@Schrodinger_]

"Unintended beta" would probably be a better way to phrase it.

[@shino8854]

Yeah, she's a Karen.

[@Nike-iv2ni]

Disappointing final... There were virtually no tops for the men, while the tops were thrown at the women. Even the number of attempts is relatively low. Womens Boulder 3 was a real shame. Three moves, one "crux", and it didn't even look interesting. I know it is difficult to estimate the strength of the competitors after Corona, but I had hoped that the quality would increase after last week and not stagnate or even decrease.

[@kylerey09]

I feel like some of these women got stronger after covid. More time spent training. Brooke and Natalia have both made dramatic jumps the last year.

[@crescentfuze]

@@kylerey09 But the first final world cup in SLC was pretty good comparatively, this one just sucked which you hope not after the prior success...

[@kylerey09]

@@crescentfuze yeah, route setting wasn't very good this time. Everyone still climbs the same boulder tho. Either way you can see separation amongst climbers. If we have multiple flashing every problem or no tops then we got a serious problem.

[@crescentfuze]

@@kylerey09 but that exactly what we had?

[@kylerey09]

@@crescentfuze if that is what we had then there would have been a draw. From what I saw there was a clear winner on both sides.

[@TesterAnimal1]

Really bad routesetting. The boulders were weird.

[@juhanikuronen6944]

Would anyone else like to have open section and women's section for these world cups? Wonder if climbers like Janja would be interested in climbing in open rather in women's.

[@kimediamond]

This was pretty bad, from the boulders, to editing and commentary. It's cringe when commentators repeatedly try to convince the audience how good the route setting is when it obviously isn't.

[@marka.6879]

Pete saying "if you think these boulders are too easy, believe me they're not" just because someone had a foot slip. Dude, we know they're not v2's, but they are obviously too easy for the competitors. Doesn't know what he is talking about.

[@ktape3211]

Yep, lmao at 3:33:35 when Meagan says “it was cool to see the diversity of the boulders, different styles, really testing that well-roundedness from each athlete..” Who is she trying to fool the women’s final was all easy slabs and the men’s was mostly parkour jumps, the boulders were anything but diverse and they solely tested one singular skillset. Really hoping to see Matt return in Innsbruck, this fluff commentary is painful to listen to.

[@PTBuckSauren]

@@ktape3211 absolutly right. I do not no what was more painful: The commentaries or the routesetters?

[@TheCmbx]

lol Janja didnt won because it was too easy boulders

[@elinamauno8833]

Now can we get commentators with this amount of respect for competitors of all countries and all levels even with a clear frontrunner, onto the artistic gymnastics commentating?

[@TxHoneyBee]

If you're talking about WAG, Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time, and you will deal.

[@elinamauno8833]

@@TxHoneyBee I don’t remember myself claiming she is not? Well aware, thank you very much. Does not mean I can not hope to listen to commentators who respect the other competitors taking part in the competition when showing their routines

[@TxHoneyBee]

@@elinamauno8833 Well in a comparative sport where the best is competing, all others will be compared to them. So you'll have to deal with that or not watch an American broadcast that will celebrate the greatest of all time who is also American. You will deal.

[@elinamauno8833]

@@TxHoneyBee It is possible to compare gymnasts to each other (including the best), without being disrespectful to every other gymnast out there by not learning their names, refusing to say anything positive about their gymnastics, and praising the mistakes made by Simone while ridiculing other gymnasts for making them. There are ways to commentate celebrating a gymnast without completely ridiculing everyone else on the field.

[@TxHoneyBee]

@@elinamauno8833 That rarely if ever happens that the American commenters don't know an athele's name. They could make a mistake while LIVE broadcasting (ya know humans make mistakes live) and correct themselves latter. Show proof of 'disrespect' in favor of discussing better athletes?

[@Ultimime]

I love how you make it feel like you're talking to me and guiding me through as a fledgling fan.

[@verbalwound5874]

Men final - too hard Women final - too easy

[@Charles-qo2wt]

I agree about the men's but I think the women's was made very well. Everyone got at least a couple tops, but only 2 topped all 4 and only one flashed all 4. It was really right in the sweet spot for both difficulty and entertainment.

[@walterlotte4215]

@@Charles-qo2wt If all four boulders are flashed, they are too easy...

[@Azzrr]

@@Charles-qo2wt 19! tops.. thats not right. entertaining? yes. easy? fuck yes. thats wayyy to many

[@johnmarc1986]

@@Charles-qo2wt getting 3 tops and coming second to last is not good route setting.

[@scheong78]

That girl who screams during the women’s comps need to be booted out...

[@sladki6ka]

Fourth boulder in the men's seemed unnecessarily dangerous. Are you setting for the climbers or for the spectators? Also, please teach athletes to walk away when they are hurt. There is nothing noble or impressive in fighting through what could become a serious injury.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

yeah, specially after the previous 3 boulders which also involved jumping... So they put the most aggressive jump on the 4th boulder when the muscles are tired and coordination starts to fail; unnecessarily dangerous as you say

[@Perfidiouswulff]

And only a couple of months out from olympics. Imagine having your olympic dreams crushed through injury on such a daft bouldering problem.

[@owlish_hotel]

Fourth boulder in the men's was the fun boulder out of all of them, and not necessarily as dangerous as you might think... dynos arent that dangerous if you've had practice with them. As for walking away, i agree Zach shouldn't have pushed so hard, but i can also see why he tried. He only scored one zone in the whole finals, which probably made him pressured to try until the end. However you look at it, its still a competition.

[@sounddesires8506]

Bailey is sick! Really smooth and powerfull!

[@jjns3991624]

Having the wall in full sun seems like a huge oversight. It’s not hard, just face the wall north. It’s would certainly take a few unknowns off the route setter’s plate.

[@robert.hucknall]

2:17:42 oriane topping in 20s, fuck me that was sensational

[@kumatobazha4003]

She really worked her butt off, was a great show! 👍

[@Nick-B78]

She did almost the exact same thing last weekend too. Topped out with just 4 seconds left 🤯

[@NickRoman]

She was fun to watch. It was cool how quickly she got up boulder 1 and I like how excited she was when she topped. Though, it seems like Stasa's foot placement was maybe better than the others. I think avoiding foot swaps is probably a good idea, no?

[@ocping]

Horrible setting for men's boulders. Nothing but parkour moves here. I get that it's fun to have 1 or 2 dyno/coordination moves but this is ridiculous.

[@asdzt123]

This is as different from rock climbing as it gets, if they continue the trend in 5 years time not even a single rock climber will be competing.

[@johnmarc1986]

This isn't ninja warrior ffs

[@thisscreensucks]

....did you even watch? I swear people just throw out this complaint because they've heard someone else say it.

[@thisscreensucks]

Literally insane. There was barely any coordination moves.... Unless it's all crimps it's "parkour"

[@ninex9631]

​@@thisscreensucksmeanwhile first boulder Coordination and parkour

[@nomadinbali7014]

What a boring route setting.

[@aisling1061]

3:20:45 I cringed when Pete Woods described Sienna Kopf as "a volunteer they must know from the community" she was in the semis last week when he was commentating!

[@CarolHaynesJ]

Route setters did a very poor job but it is not an American thing - there have been a few competitions in Europe where the setting has been similarly bad. Men's route setting was particularly terrible ... almost nothing to do with climbing technique just jumping. Women's was very samey throughout, so not brilliant setting, but at least it wasn't two hours of people failing to jump. Personally I thought the women's result was fair enough. Janja made 2 careless mistakes and paid the penalty - but isn't that what climbing plastic is about? Natalia Climbed very well both weeks - confirming last week was not a fluke. As for commentator bias? Well I thought they were pretty positive about most of the climbers and so were the crowd. They were understandably pleased that American's did well for a change - Sean, Natalia and Brooke did climb really well. (I am not American so not biased). I think mostly what the last two weeks have shown is that too many climbers have been laid off for a year and are still trying to get back consistency - more surprised by the number of good people who failed even to qualify?

[@dakiblabla]

Setting fail. Mens boulders overcooked, womens too easy to differentiate between athletes. Although Bailey climbed quite well, I personally always find it a little suspicious when the setting fail coincides with the sweep for the home team... In the end, I was annoyed to watch this final, so much so that the only thing I found entertaining was Stasa's hair.

[@brian1264]

Yes on the setting fail, but, I believe the route setters are the usual IFSC crew, not USA

[@vesnaklanac4437]

@@brian1264 two are from the US, other two from the Great Britain. One of the Americans worked in the gym owned by Brook's parents.

[@gabeh7655]

@@vesnaklanac4437 Maybe they made the T-nut holes extra good for Brooke's feet.

[@talesfromthemoribund702]

What do you mean by "over cooked"?

[@dakiblabla]

@@talesfromthemoribund702 Sandbagged. Nobody could finish.

[@joemark1154]

Didn't enjoy this women final at all, route setting were not good at all. All 4 boulders need to have different techniques. For instance all 4 boulder tops in women were holds. So many Slabs. Finals should not be that easy to Flash it becomes hard to seperate these top athletes and it comes down to really small mistake. Like Janja just slipping in start hold and that is all that costed her the win. all 6 women had a flash in the finals on some boulder that's not fun.

[@ktape3211]

Well said, I agree 100%. All the boulders were slabs/precision footwork problems which undeniably caters to the strengths of the American climbers. The podium was just a flashing contest, and having 5/6 finalists with 3 tops is not at all good separation.

[@SpMile]

I can't wait for the next comp, I have a feeling the US team will not be anywhere near the results they got here.

[@ktape3211]

@@SpMile Agreed, the European world cups tend to have much better diversity in their route setting. Janja is not likely to lose to the American climbers with challenging and distinct boulder problems that provide actual separation amongst the finalists. Looking forward to some quality climbing in Innsbruck!

[@pixclimber]

M1 - don’t the route setters know it’s dull to watch the same parcour moves, over and over. So far from real climbing.

[@pixclimber]

M2 - more of the same, and no tops. This route setting is awful. And I’m having to watch with the sounds turned off because the commentators are so annoying.

[@pixclimber]

M3 - sheesh! This is the worst bouldering competition I’ve ever watched.

[@pixclimber]

Let’s hope the route setters learn from this awful men’s final. Give us some variety between the 4 routes, and set problems that have more than one solution - so we can see the athletes use their individual strengths to overcome the problem. Not easy, I know, but most competitions manage it somehow. Parkour style doesn’t help with this.

[@TesterAnimal1]

@@pixclimber Yep. M3 is just weirdly awful. It's not even parkour style jumpy. Just horrible.

[@KingColliwog]

One parkour problem is fine, more than one is just dumb. This was the worst route setting I've ever seen

[@mrroboto18]

Bring back Matt Groom please

[@awdrifter3394]

3:00:44 Janja is beast holding that barn door.

[@TheAlbinoskunk]

W3 she fully let the barn door open and then slammed it shut again

[@proonly77]

I don’t know if Natalia is just really good now or the boulders suited her super well. I want to say the routes were easy but even Miho only topped 2 and Janja looked less comfortable doing the boulders compared to Natalia.

[@joemark1154]

Miho was just not fit, see she hurt her shoulder ! rest all found it not that challenging at all the route was easy, this is not how a final should be.

[@proonly77]

@@joemark1154 somewhat true but stasa and oriane took way more attempts to complete 3 boulders while Natalia flashed all 4. Although I have to admit it was a super boring women’s final lol

[@ktape3211]

I don’t think she’s better than Janja, all of these problems were slab/precision footwork type boulders with hold finishes, which is obviously the strength of the American climbers. Watch Natalia in Meiringen a month ago where the setting was significantly better with its diversity, and it’s evident how much better Janja is as a well-rounded climber. Natalia isn’t great at powerful/crimpy boulders or dynamic moves, but technical movement is her forte, and every problem was like that here. Sadly for Janja, it turned the podium into a flashing contest rather than a holistic climbing evaluation. Congrats to Natalia nonetheless, though.

[@jorgmengwasser8800]

no real dynamic move in any of the boulders..

[@AS-zd9hz]

Kind of susipicious, it looks like she knew perfectly the moves...

[@gidosfishingadventures]

Way to many adds. I’m getting 2 adds per climber(4mins) and it’s nearly 4 hrs long

[@waruuum]

ublock origin is your friend

[@DaleTurrell]

@@waruuum doesn't work with Chromecast though.

[@elizabethcalero2404]

I love Sean Bailey ❤❤ i'm a new fan to this sport and i find this guy pretty impressive along with Nathalia Grossmann. He is so humble....love him !!😍😍😍

[@jakejasonread980]

In the case of a young climber, such as Zack Galla, shouldn’t his coach really be stepping in on M4, using his better judgment/experience and withdrawing him from the competition? It was painful to watch him try to climb through that injury knowing he was only making it much worse.

[@madraven5915]

I don't think the coaches has any privileges to speak to the athlete while he's on the mat. In that sense climbing really is an individual sport. But I agree, it was painful to watch. Especially as i currently suffer from a similar injury and I know how much it hurts when you keep pushing through it.

[@poorboychevelle]

Not sure he has a dedicated coach, regardless he's coming off shoulder surgery and apparently was just cramping at the end of finals.

[@johnmarc1986]

Yeah it looked more like cramping to me.

[@Saiyaaaaa]

He is 21 and old enough to make his own decisions. He just wanted so badly to get the zone... and yes it was painful to watch, but it would have been not the first time that an injured climber keeps going and sometimes succeed on a boulder nevertheless. Sometimes the success means so much to them that they keep going no matter what. If that is a good thing I don't know, but that's how it is in any sport.

[@adamtravan3946]

I love both Brooke and Kyra but it’s a shame Natalia won’t get to rep USA in Olympics. She’s clearly hitting her stride and would have the best chance to podium.

[@oceanbreeze9248]

Totally! I'm a huge fan of Brooke and have been for a long time, but I can't deny that Natalia is so strong right now... 😱

[@constanceelaine3909]

It's not just bouldering at the Olympics. How does Grossman fare in lead? How was her speed climbing?

[@LL-rk8rm]

I think the setters must ensure that the US win the Games

[@ballofsnow]

Is this Boulder World Cup or Parkour World Cup?

[@Hihi6789sfvvdsc]

pretty sure parkour guys (who has zero climbing exp) will not top any single one of the route in boulder world cup

[@FurEliseFlamenco]

Where have u been? WC have been trending this style for years.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

@@Hihi6789sfvvdsc maybe Toby Segar. Other than that, no, probably not, but the point still stands: if climbers start doing parkour, they'll get a lot better at this type of boulders, so is it climbing or parkour? (I love both but let's keep each in its own lane). I mean, the four boulders involved some crazy parkour jumping, right? Since when a boulder requires a dyno?

[@aidanloeser4890]

the top womens boulderers have been so insanely consistent. they stole the show for sure. the male commentator doesn't know what's going on. he talks way too much.

[@TesterAnimal1]

Bailey was super impressive though!

[@leraph9860]

Bravo Oriane!

[@ajburke8963]

Don't understand why so many people are on here hating on the route setting/commentators. I came out here to see some great climbing, and I saw some great climbing. Chillax.

[@haggaisimon7748]

2021, a year to forget...

[@TI-lq6cf]

1:53:55 Wining climbing by Bailey

[@theobserver_224]

I am the biggest janja garnbret fan !!!!! However in a way I’m happy she came in second because that will only make her better for the olympics . Now she can correct any mistakes she has rather than make those mistakes in Tokyo .

[@dtdyvr]

Grossman looks very impressive - interesting to see if she can maintain form on the European and Asian circuit. love Janja, but she needs some serious challengers - hopefully Grossman can be that challenger...

[@Emomcdarkness]

Another disappointing installment of the dual-tex parkour show

[@jankasmann4042]

not that i like the same competitor win over and over again, but i like it less, when the strongest competitor does not win...

[@WOLFARI]

@Geemin Kim Agree!

[@forrestking5425]

I like how after Shawns top on m4 you see Nathaniel Coleman Cherri for him in the crowd pretty wholesome

[@beatewester4777]

Just great. Thank you so much. Greetings from Germany.

[@ankitasehgal03]

But kudos to Sean Bailey and Tomoa Narasaki regardless of everything 🙏🏽🙏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@Melchiwhip]

Disapointing final overall. Well, shit happends sometimes

[@BoulderingHighlights]

trueeeeeee

[@iv9573]

Worst setting I've seen in a long time

[@davidsimpson3885]

Mens: Good decision from Ondra to sit this one out 🤣 think he would have been furious by the end of that final. Womens: More variety and a bit harder then i'd reckon janja would have knocked it out of the Park.

[@ktape3211]

Yep, smart choice from him haha, he would have despised this boulder set. It would likely have worsened his shoulder injury as well if he tried these parkour jumps.

[@keksauraisks]

Horrible route setting

[@zhengwy888]

How would you name this style of the commentator? I would call it 'backseat driving for climbing'. Please leave some room for the audience's imagination and route reading.

[@irene.climbs]

It’s quite annoying, listening to that guy give non stop beta and advice, I want to focus on the athletes

[@kim98677]

The end of W1 is SUCH a nice touch

[@mellestacy]

videographer zooming in on the back/arms/back of the head when they're doing technical foot switches is.... annoying. Can we just get the video from the back and show zoom-ins and different angles during the replays?

[@WishfullGamedev]

Very bad route setting imo. Too easy for the women, and seriously dangerous for the men. We want challenging, exciting finals, but I dont think anyone wants watching top level athletes doing stuff that seriously puts them at high risk just for entertainment. I hope athlete's safety is also considered when setting and not only the "wows" from the crowd matter.

[@dirtbagdavid]

Jesus christ KZbin will you let me watch more than 2 minutes without barfing more f$cking adds out all over me

[@alexspeed8358]

dood get ad block

[@MihaiNeacsu]

We wouldn't have to install ad-blockers if the ad frequency was decent...

[@FlecheDeFer]

So impressive to see year after year the american team remember..., euh, "reading" every boulder without even looking at the wall when competing in America, too bad they can't replicate that when competing elsewhere.....

[@unknownunknown7878]

Beautiful and strong lady from France

[@olavmeins290]

I can not agree, that the man´s boulders are too hard und the woman´s are too soft. Don´t forget the speed competition most of them joined. But a boulder like the M4 should never be seen any more. How could the responsible person or the IFSC give there ok for that boulder. Either you get the top or you fall badly. Happily Bailey, Fuji and Ogata have no injury. That is not the sport i want to see.

[@tetrarn]

Imo last week was just as poorly set, this week it was just highlighted better.

[@bsn0730]

These men's boulders are ridiculous. I love watching a good dyno but wow, really overdid it on this one.

[@ABSVabeautifulsunsetvlog]

I would personally like to see more climbing and less parkour (men’s finals especially). These athletes train for years as rock climbers only to have entertainment value trump the skills that they’ve harnessed.A crazy dyno here and there are fine, but let’s get back to Rock climbing please...

[@ItsReubenCarlson]

What if there was an overlay displaying the degree of the wall? It's hard to tell sometimes how far out the wall is protruding when it's shot from the front.

[@c17-j5s]

The camera work is absolute garbage ! We should always get at least 3 angles to get a real look at the problems...

[@orinivanvrkas7409]

Not sure why they even had a zone on b1 where they did, given that top was more or less the next hold.

[@unknownuser_99]

Why were the commentators lavishing the route setters' work with so many compliments when the climbs were so terrible? Are they afraid of badmouthing an American competition or just dumb?

[@rokac3]

So bad boulders. Usa need to work on difficulty of women boulder, must be harder and repeated the finale

[@ktape3211]

@@CatNerfer3000 Actually, I would say yes. Not to discount Natalia in any way as she’s a great climber, but if the boulders were actually diverse and challenging (as they should be if the route setters do their job correctly), the separation would have been much better and Janja would likely have won since she’s undeniably a better all-around climber. Solely testing slab/precision footwork type problems (which is obviously the American girls’ forte) turned the podium into a flashing competition rather than evaluating the holistic ability of the climbers.

[@bojanLeskosek]

@@CatNerfer3000 , we are not in year 2000. Modern bouldering is about diversity, dynamic movement are not reserved for men. Yes, Janja is ahead of the field in this type of the problems at the moment, but it does not mean this type should be eliminated just for the sake some other girl has a chance against Janja...

[@applepie-sq8mm]

@@CatNerfer3000 can you explain what you mean with casuals with ADD? I am new to climbing so idk if ADD is a climbing term, but if you mean attention deficit disorder then idk what that possibly has to do with the boulder setting...

[@ML-oe3oy]

@@CatNerfer3000 we all have to admit the routes are stupid, the difference between top 2 is 2 attempts and both get 4 tops. There is no skill/difficulty separation, just about who is a bit more careful. Is final suppose to just test carefulness? but not skill?

[@ML-oe3oy]

@@CatNerfer3000 you are taking it to the extreme to support your argument, classic. Obviously I am not talking about 1 top for 1 climber. But top 3 should definitely has a bigger separation with number of tops and attempts. Even if they are very very close match, 1 climber being able to flash all 4 and another one with 6 attempt only clearly shows the route doesn't test their limit. And those 2 attempt can easily be a careless slip or hold doesn't brush enough. Instead of testing their skills

[@bjornwo]

The mens' routes were not very exciting to watch. Please bring back more routes that showcase upper body strength, rather than almost only coordination and leg strength. Im tired of watching someone flailing their way through a three part dyno. It also seems a bit excessive making moves that require extreme flexibility to do.

[@Jagknorr]

2:15:21 lol that scream! I thought someone was getting murdered!

[@ericconnor3728]

Damn, Tomoa Narasaki's flash on M4 was amazing. That one woman in the crowd that's screaming so high, a bit too obnoxious for my taste.

[@HerrFinsternis]

Natalia was a goddess out there I think she maybe hesitated/adjusted ones. It's just crazy how these American girls have completely flipped the table in women's bouldering. Speaking of which, another final for Oriane and almost another podium. That first top was nothing short of amazing I can't wait to see more.