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Sean McColl Heading to Adidas Rockstars 2016

Some of the world’s top boulderers will be heading to the Adidas Rockstars Sept. 23 and 24. The event draws strong climbers to Stuttgart’s modern Porsche-Arena for the fifth year in a row. Around 3,500 spectators will be on hand when world champions, world cup winners and national champions impressively go head to head. DJ battles and live music will provide a musical backdrop and entertainment to the event.

The start list reads like the who’s who of bouldering. This year, the event takes place one week after the IFSC Climbing World Championship in Paris. Hence, some athletes may have unfinished business and the crowd can look forward to an exciting competition. All athletes should be in top shape. The field includes the two defending champions, triple Rockstar and triple World Champion Combined (L/S/B) Sean McColl and 18-year old America Megan Mascarenas.

Sean McColl and Megan Mascarenos at the 2015 Adidas Rockstars.
Sean McColl and Megan Mascarenos at the 2015 Adidas Rockstars.

Mascarenas won the qualification and the semifinal last year before securing her victory over multiple World Cup winner Akiyo Noguchi from Japan with an unforgettable toe hook. They compete against the top ranked athletes of the 2016 Bouldering World Cup, namely Miho Nonaka (JPN), Mélissa Le Nevé (FRA), Kokoro Fujii (JPN), Alexey Rubtsov (RUS) and Jongwon Chon (KOR), who won the Overall Bouldering World Cup 2015.

The circle of favourites includes furthermore the reigning European Champion Jan Hojer (GER) as well as the current front-runners of the Lead World Cup, 17-year old Janja Garnbret (SLO), who placed third last year and her teammate Domen Škofic (SLO). Great Britain’s high achiever Shauna Coxsey, who won the 2016 Overall World Cup ahead of schedule and has been appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen this year, had to undergo a shoulder surgery after the World Cup final in Munich and can only watch from the side-line, but she won’t miss out on the event.

A total of 70 athletes from 22 different countries are invited. The top six men and women advance to the final on Saturday evening. They fight in two rounds for the entry to the superfinal. Here, the top two compete in direct comparison on a so-called “super boulder” that was specifically created for the event. The athletes climb simultaneously an identical route on two sides of the same boulder. In this thrilling duel the two superfinalists need both, excellent skills and good nerves.

The problems will be set by an array of internationally renowned route setters, namely Laurent Laporte (FRA), Reinhard Fichtiger (AUT), Matthias Woitzuck (AUT), Adam Pustelnik (POL), Tomasz Oleksy (POL), Robert Leistner (GER), Dirk Uhlig (GER) and Felix Buchmann (GER). All together the team boasts 100 years of experience in competition route setting.

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