Paraclimbing 2019 Scheduling Issue Won’t Happen Again

The following is a press release concerning the 2019 paraclimbing world championships in Tokyo. In short, the separation of paraclimbing from non-paraclimbing competitions is based on a scheduling problem. There’s no plan to separate the two in the 2021 world championships.

Yuji Hirayama, JMSCA Vice President, presented the plans for the IFSC World Championships 2019 hosted by JMSCA in Hachioji, informing the Plenary Assembly that the city of Hachioji has recently notified them that the arena would be available one day less than initially planned (WCH originally considered until 22nd).

JMSCA and IFSC experts looked at viable solutions for a schedule which takes into consideration both Climbing and Paraclimbing. However, no solution that could ensure the smooth running of the event and a fair field of play for all Athletes could be found.

France's Thierry Delarue also started his scorecard at Paraclimbing Cup Briançon last summer, topping a strong field in the leg amputee category which included multiple former world champions! @ffmontagne_escalade ? @sytsevanslooten

A post shared by IFSC (@ifsclimbing) on Dec 12, 2018 at 2:03am PST

The Executive Board and JMSCA asked the Plenary Assembly to discuss and then make a decision whether to take a big risk in the hosting of both Climbing and Paraclimbing in Japan, or to take a temporary painful decision and split the two Championships for 2019. This measure was considered necessary to provide professional Championships to both Climbers and Paraclimbers, instead of taking the risk to cancel part of the event at a later stage.

Since the decision to host Climbing and Paraclimbing World Championships belongs to the Plenary Assembly, the Executive Board and JMSCA asked the Plenary Assembly to vote “To allow for the hosting of the 2019 World Championships and the 2019 Paraclimbing World Championships in separate locations and/or dates.”

The vote refers to the 2019 Championships only and there is no intention, at this stage, to split climbing and paraclimbing at the WCH 2021 in Moscow. The vote was approved unanimously by the Plenary Assembly, after a productive discussion and debate.

On March 22nd, Fédération Française de la Montagne et de L’Escalade (FFME) confirmed the provisional candidacy made at the Plenary Assembly to host the Paraclimbing World Championships in Briançon (FRA) in July 2019. The IFSC is confident that the 2019 Paraclimbing World Championships will be a great success thanks to the long history and experience of the Event Organizers and FFME.