Congrats on the third place! I could feel the pressure through the screen (both with Zac's comp and yours). Maybe you should consider buying some high quality noise cancelling headphones haha! There are some really good ones out there. Also, why is it that a high ranking (for quals or semis) makes you go last? Seems like a huge disadvantage (crowd reactions/used holds), or is that precisely the reason? To even the playing field?
Crowd reactions could be seen as an advantage though, having some information about what’s easy or hard can help if it doesn’t get to your head I think the holds being dirty makes a bit less difference with only 6 competitors, and maybe they’re better about brushing in finals too I think the real reason is for the show, IFSC comps are all about the show. Imagine the first climber comes out and flashes everything, and the next climbers struggle more, not so exciting. However, seeing competitors doing better and better keeps it interesting the whole time This works even better for lead, where it’s not unusual in finals to see each successive climber go just a little bit higher than the previous one
Very very interesting to hear what was going through your head during the final round. Clearly the physical fitness doesn't seem to be the limiting factor to winning at this stage - how do you plan on training / improve the "mindset at finals" thing?
