This is why climbing is the sport of the moment, we understood it at the Olympics

Paris at its best. The first thing that comes to mind when walking around the majestic streets of the French capital is that, despite some inevitable problems, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower they have done a great job. The city is spruced upthe premises seem like those in glossy and romantic films of French comedies, the atmosphere is festive.

The Olympics they are a world apart. The athletes, instead of fighting each other, help each other, the fans hug each other and watch the races together, between a beer, a laugh and a sandwich, maybe shared.

When Samsung, the official sponsor of the competition, invites us to follow the women’s sport climbing final “live”, we are very happy to be able to get closer to a sport that is conquering more and more people (especially the very young) and to be able to do it starting from the maximum: the challenge for the Olympic gold.

We arrive at the site of Bourget (made especially for the Games) and we are really surprised by how many people came to follow the exploits of the athletes in the race. The facility is packed, the heat and the sun are the opponents to beat, the hats, water bottles and portable fans are instead the allies.

The audience is a show within the show. Some showed up in kimono to support the Japanese Ai Mori, some have tricolor hair to support the home hope Oriane Bertone, some display banners and some wave flags.

The competition is divided into two competitions. It starts with the four boulder tests and then moves on to the lead test.

To compete for the podium Chaehyun Seo (South Korea), Erin McNeice (UK), Oceania MacKenzie (Australia), Oriane Bertone (France), Ai Mori (Japan), Brooke Raboutou (USA), Jessica Pilz (Austria) and Jania Garnbret (Slovenia).

The challenge on the routes designed by climbing technicians is vibrant, the girls demonstrate all their skill with incredible passages that draw shouts and applause.

The Japanese To the Moorsjust 155 centimeters tall, immediately becomes the idol of everyone present. In one of the bouldering challenges, the first attacks are so high that despite her efforts and countless attempts, she cannot reach them. She is almost touching, giving up only when the clock gives her no more hope.

At the end of the first part, at the top (it’s right to say so) is the Slovenian Garnbret, followed by the American Raboutou and the Australian MacKenzie.

After the break we move on to the leadwhere the podium will be decided by adding the scores achieved in the two specialties.

The lead is a truly spectacular test. The athletes have six minutes to climb up to a height of fifteen meters following a path composed of holds arranged in such a way as to form sections with different levels of difficulty.

Before the start, all the girls study, even with the help of a binocularsthe wall. One of the rules, in fact, is that they can’t see it before.

These are moments of great concentration, but also of solidarity. The athletes, in fact, chat among themselves, give advice and exchange opinions. This also happens at the Olympics.

Then we start, from the last in the rankings to go up. In the end, the Slovenian Garnbret will win the gold. Silver for the American Raboutou and bronze for the Austrian Pilz.