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Let’s analyze a bit of what happened in Kazo. It was another day at the office for Shauna Coxsey, who ended every single round in first place, and a very tight final for the guys, with Rustam Gelmanov back on top of the podium after almost 2 years.

(If you wanna know more about the previous rounds check out our posts on the qualifers and semifinals).

The final

Kazo was a great show, perhaps too long due to the organizer’s decision of having just one athlete climbing at a time. It’s hard to keep the excitement for 4 hours and it must have been mentally draining for the guys, who had to wait for almost 2 extra hours in isolation while the women climbed.

For both categories there were a couple of must-do problems: first (5 tops) and third (4 tops) for the guys and second (6 tops) and fourth (4 tops) for the girls.

The two climbers who managed to do more than that (Coxsey and Gelmanov) got the gold medals while those who did less (Sharafutdinov, Rugens, Gibert and Caulier) ended up in 5th and 6th position.

All the other climbers got 2 tops and 4 bonuses (except Klingler, with just 3 bonuses) and the number of attempts decided the order.

It was a very tight final for everyone except for Coxsey, who seems to be in a league of her own. She dominated all 3 rounds and flashed 3 of the 4 problems in the finals. Only the first part of the second problem caused her troubles, she needed 4 attempts.

Le Neve, once again, offered a good show, got another silver medal and left the stage with a big smile of satisfaction. She was the best of the pack but Coxsey was too far ahead.

Nonaka looked quite tense throughout the final. Without Noguchi it was up to her to represent Japan and each time she topped a problem the expression on her face was not so much happiness but relief. It is quite impressive that she managed to climb that well under those circumstances.

Klingler flashed the must-do problems and fell touching the top on the first. She didn’t look confortable at all on the third one; had she gotten that bonus in up to 2 tries she would have gotten the bronze.

Gibert and Caulier did well on the first two but struggled from there on. Caulier’s last try on the third got her to the top though, but in a position that made it impossible to match.

The male final was even closer. Four guys had options to the gold going into the last problem.

Piccolruaz had a great round, climbing loose and confident. By flashing the two easier problems he set the bar high for Fujii and Bonder, who used a few more tries.

But Gelmanov, with an impressive flash of the last problem, sealed the deal and got his first gold since Laval 2014. Bonder and Fujii could have gotten the silver had they topped that 4th problem but they couldn’t figure out how to navigate the volumes right before the top.

Great route setting

The problems were great in Kazo, for men and women, throughout the three rounds. There were fun to watch and, according to some athletes, fun to climb. The styles were diverse, ranging from big moves on giant volumes, to pinches, tiny crimps and slabs.

The big difference with Meiringen was the dynamism. Meiringen was all about body tension and slow movement. Kazo had it’s fare share of that, but always combined with some dynamic moves.

Many problems followed the pattern of a physical start followed by a dicey finish, with many climbers falling from the last moves after some time hesitating and looking for ways to put both hands on the top without losing balance or slipping from the terrible footholds they were standing on.

Some blocs were probably a bit too hard but just 3 of them (out of 36 in the comp) remained unsolved.

Coxey and Le Neve, only certainties so far

The overall is a bit of a mess so far. Only 2 climbers, Coxsey and Le Neve, have made finals in the two world cups we’ve had and none of the men who made finals in Meiringen made top 10 in Kazo.

So far it seems that the only safe bets are Coxsey, Le Neve and the French team, which with Gibert, Bonder, Levier, Kaiser and Le Neve seems to be ready to place climbers on podiums on any given day.

Overcooked Japanese team?

The Japanese team, one of the strongest in the field, was bound to do well in Kazo. And it did, two bronze medals. But it seems like the intense pressure, from the media, fans and probably internal; and all those expectations involving Olympic dreams were too much for some of their best athletes.

Sugimoto, Hori and Noguchi offered modest performances. Noguchi’s case being the most shocking, the last time she failed to make top 10 was almost 4 years ago, in Vail 2012. I wouldn’t be surprised if, now that all that tension is gone, she was to start challenging Coxsey in the upcoming World Cups.

Just the beginning

We are just 2 events into the season, which will end in August (the World Cup) and September (the World Championships). Everything is up in the air, including the female overall, Coxsey’s impressive form notwithstanding. Remember that just 6 results will count, so you can probably forget about Noguchi’s 20th position (unless she skips a World Cup).

The male overall couldn’t be more open. In the next event 20 climbers could overtake Gelmanov and get in first place.

Next stop: Chongqing, China, this weekend.

(I won’t be there in person but I will write post-round posts as per usual).