For many the Olympic dream will have to wait for another day, but for eight men and eight women in Jakarta, Indonesia, the dream is still very much alive as the finalists were confirmed.
Just one man and one woman will take a Paris 2024 ticket, and in the women’s competition the two out in front are Japan’s Ito Futaba and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nonaka Miho.
With 187.8pts Ito is currently the one to beat after a solid Lead performance backed up some good form on the Boulders. Just under 15 points separated Ito from teammate Nonaka who finished on 172.9pts.
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Seo Chaehyun is through in third on 169.8pts following a strong Lead round, something we have come to expect from the South Korean.
Zhang Yuetong won a medal at the Asian Games last month sharing a podium just behind Seo, and she once again follows closely with 158.0pts for fourth spot.
Kume Nonoha is the third Japanese climber into the final with 157.7pts joining Ito and Nonaka.
The legendary Kim Jain continues her push for an Olympic appearance finishing in sixth with 137.5pts, all with the standard Kim smile to the crowd whenever her climbing finishes – you get the feeling she is enjoying herself.
Luo Zhilu is another Chinese athlete in final, and she knows what she has to do to improve on her seventh position: “My climbing wasn’t too bad today, but I think there were some mistakes in both Boulder and Lead.
“Boulder three especially I thought I could have topped; I just wasn’t that aggressive at the top so I lost that chance. For Lead I should have found more places to rest but I just couldn’t.
“I actually think I warmed up too much and lost a bit of energy. Maybe for the final I warm up a little less as the feeling in my body is most important so I need to relax a bit more.”
There will be home interest in the final as Sukma Lintang Cahyani rose from 13th in Boulder to finish in eighth after a strong Lead performance.
Full women’s results here For the men, there will be few people shocked to see that the only climber to top the Lead route and sit first overall was Japan’s Anraku Sorato.
Anraku scored 184.6pts with teammate Ogata Yoshiyuki his closest rival in second on 141.6pts.
China’s Pan Yufei, who already has an Olympic appearance under his belt was third on 133.8pts.
Another Japanese climber, Narasaki Meichi sits in fourth with 121.4pts. He is hoping to join brother Tomoa who has already secured qualification from the World Championships Bern 2023 in Paris next year.
Narasaki said: “Not good today, I was very sweaty and so less friction in the Lead. Boulder wasn’t good either. I think I am in the top eight so in finals I just need to focus more.”
As well as three Japanese there will also be three South Korean climbers in the final with Lee Dohyun fifth with 109.7pts, Song Yuchan sixth with 104.2pts and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Chon Jongwon seventh with 102.4pts.
With slip and friction also on his mind, Chon said: “Honestly yesterday wasn’t good, especially Boulder wasn’t good for me. I think it is the hot weather making it more slippery.
“Today was better though. Tomorrow the final is in the afternoon so I’m hoping it will be a bit cooler. I just want to sacrifice everything I can and hopefully I can make it [to Paris 2024].”
Once again the Lead climb pulled a home country athlete into the eighth spot with Raviandi Ramadhan keeping the crowd very much interesting by representing Indonesia in the final.
Full men’s results here The women’s final takes place tomorrow at 10:00 (UTC+7:00) with the Boulder round before the Lead at 12:00. The men then finish the Boulder & Lead competition starting at 18:10 with Boulder round before the Lead round at 20:00 – all LIVE on the IFSC YouTube channel.
Luo Zhilu (CHN) competes in the Boulder round of the Boulder & Lead competition in Jakarta Photo: Lena Drapella/IFSC