No Canadians to Compete at Swiss Bouldering World Cup
Many top climbers like Kyra Condie, Alex Megos, Shauna Coxsey and Adam Ondra will be competing
Photo by: IFSC of Alannah Yip at Meiringen in 2019
On April 16 and 17, climbers will head to Meiringen for an IFSC Bouldering World Cup, but many of the world’s top climbers won’t be there. Some European climbers who are allowed to travel and compete, are skipping it because of lengthy quarantines.
So far, there are 79 women and 115 men registered to compete. No climbers from Team Canada will be making the trip, including Olympic-qualified Alannah Yip and Sean McColl. Shauna Coxsey from the U.K. will be skipping it, as will climbers from Japan, like Tomoa Narasaki, and from Korea, like Chae-hyun Seo.
Despite many climbers not attending, there are some big names making the trip. From the U.S.A. are 10 climbers including Kyra Condie and Colin Duffy; and from Japan are Akiyo Noguchi and Fujii Kokoro. Adam Ondra, Alex Megos and Janja Garnbret will also be competing. You can see the start list here.
About not attending, McColl said: “Many have wondered if I would attend the Meiringen World Cup in just one week from today; the short answer is sadly no I will not. This conclusion was not entirely of my own choosing, as the Canadian federation decided that no Canadians would attend the event. With the current state of the pandemic, I’m not sure flying in hundreds of athletes, staff, and trainers is the best idea right now. The IFSC guidelines are strong, don’t get me wrong, they were purely not enforced. I think the isolation zone in Meiringen will be the focal point of concern (it is a small rectangle gym, where max 8-10 could climb and be socially distanced), but I digress. I am also curious about the proposed pre quarantine skip heading into Switzerland. I have read the rules but fear that some athletes which don’t have “professional” status (usually by their governments) will be denied entry.” For more, see below.
For highlights from the same World Cup event, watch the video below. We’ll share the livestream for finals from the Meiringen event once the IFSC has a link.
Highlights 2019
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