By Joe Ward, Larry Buchanan, Paula Ceballos Delgado, Mika Gröndahl, Or Fleisher, Karthik Patanjali, Emily Rhyne, Bedel Saget, Umi Sy

There’s Nothing Adam Ondra Can’t Climb, but Is an Olympic Medal Out of Reach?

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2021-07-23 14:30:06

By Joe Ward, Larry Buchanan, Paula Ceballos Delgado, Mika Gröndahl, Or Fleisher, Karthik Patanjali, Emily Rhyne, Bedel Saget, Umi Syam, Jeremy White and Aaron Byrd July 21, 2021

BRNO, Czech Republic Climbing is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo, but a controversial decision by organizers may make it difficult for the world’s best climber to win a medal. Adam Ondra, who is from the Czech Republic, is the rare climber who has ascended to the highest levels in the sport’s two arenas: outdoor climbing and competition climbing.

Ondra, 28, has completed more of the hardest outdoor routes than anyone, and on the competition walls that will be featured at the Games, he is the reigning world champion in lead climbing and the only one to win the world championship in lead and bouldering in the same year.

But in Tokyo, equal weight will be given to speed climbing, a fringe event where Ondra’s considerable talents — creativity, problem solving, efficiency — are meaningless.