Although there are a lot of really strong climbers out there, I have no doubt that Adam Ondra deserves to be crowned the best in the world. Not only has he been setting standards for nearly a decade with his first ascents of Change 5. Very rarely in climbing history has there been one stand-alone consensus best; even legends like Chris Sharma had Tommy Caldwell in the background challenging their throne. There are four main reasons that people consider Ondra the current king:.
Take a look at the following graph, provided by Rock and Ice, showing how many hard climbs climbs graded 5. He has three times as many hard routes as Alex Megos, who most people would consider the only person even remotely close to Ondra in terms of skill nowadays.
Also on his resume is the fact that Ondra has established two new grades, 5. He has an incredible ability to move efficiently, keeping the weight off of his hands and expending as little energy as possible.
For a more in-depth breakdown of this, check out my video above! Climbing like this allows Ondra to send harder routes than everyone while not being as strong as them, which leaves a burning question — just how good would he be if he got stronger?
In fact, competitions are probably the best place to see how climbers stack up against each other, because you get to see them compete on the exact same route under the same conditions — and in that scenario, Ondra has dominated.
This feat is extra impressive when you consider that, while he was doing that, he was also training to climb the hardest outdoor routes in the world. This is, in my opinion, the thing that really sets him apart from the rest of the great climbers in history.
Throughout time, most of them have been specialists: Wolfgang Gullich crushed sport routes, Jim Bridwell did dangerous aid climbs, and Tommy Caldwell is the king of the big wall. Another question that I see floating around a lot is whether or not Adam Ondra will win gold at the Olympics. Will Adam Ondra win the Olympics? These are my dreams! I even suggested a functional MRI brain mapping study and a genetic test.
The latter would reveal which known elite athlete genetic polymorphisms Adam might possess. Given a limited time frame and budget, a scaled-down first round of testing was performed in Spring You can read the fascinating report in English or Czech , though I will summarize the findings below. And, with the rapid global growth of climbing and a Olympic debut, it would be a shame not to document as much as we possibly can about what makes Adam—and other elite climbers—such unique and exceptional vertical athletes!
Want to see how Adam Ondra trains? In the study, Biomechanics expert Martin Zvonar pointed out Ondra using his long neck as a lever, tilting his head back at the end of the move to improve centre of gravity.
The grip strength is accentuated by the remarkably robust shoulders. A track coach was roped in to help with the explosiveness needed for speed climbing. He has utilised traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture and does pranayama after waking up and yoga nidra just before the competition. The demands are unbelievably physical, but Ondra shares details of the mental process.
Climbing is fun, for sure. But I always try to give everything that I have into every single route into every single training session. During a climb, a split second of hesitation means loss of valuable energy which could come into play later.
I mostly try to distract myself, read, chat and only right before I start climbing is when I really focus on myself.
I try to visualise, for example, the last time that I felt great during climbing. In Tokyo, climbers will compete across three disciplines — speed: a vertical sprint to the top, bouldering: ropeless crawls up overhanging walls which require power and problem solving, and lead climbing: the classic test of endurance.
A combination of all three events was the compromise. The gold in Tokyo will go to the climber with the lowest combined score, a multiplication of their rankings in each of the three disciplines. No boulderer has transitioned to speed and lead, and no speed climber has done it to bouldering and lead. The limit on medals prompted some top climbers to pull out from the Olympics.
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