The 2019 adidas ROCKSTARS event in Stuttgart, Germany took place over the weekend, where climbing and music are mixed to create a spectacular, one-of-a-kind competition. The competition is invite-only, but some participants earned a place by competing in national 'Ticket to ROCKSTARS' competitions across the globe. A stacked field of future Olympians and IFSC circuit legends took part to fight for the ROCKSTARS title alongside some strong amateurs.
After the qualification and semi-final rounds, the top 6 athletes competed in an unusual final format. The first two boulders are attempted by all six athletes, before the three lowest-ranking athletes are eliminated ahead of boulder 3. The top two climbers after the third boulder progress to a superfinal, where athletes race to complete an identical boulder problem and hit the buzzer.
Futaba Ito (JPN) managed to outsmart 2019 Boulder World Cup winner and triple World Champion Janja Garnbret (SLO) on the head-to-head superfinal problem to hit the buzzer first. 16-year-old Ai Mori (JPN) finished 3rd. The men were faced with a jamming crack in boulder 3, which was skilfully surpassed by Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN) and Florian Klingler (AUT) by dynoing to the top of the wall. In the men's superfinal, the boulder initially proved to be too difficult. The routesetters made a slight alteration, which was ultimately ignored by Ogata, who skipped the additional crimp and quickly topped ahead of opponent Klingler. Jongwon Chon (KOR) placed 3rd.
British athletes achieved some strong positions, with Shauna Coxsey finishing 5th, Alex Waterhouse 9th and Nathan Phillips 22nd.
Results
Women TOP 6:
1 - Futaba Ito (JPN)
2 - Janja Garnbret (SLO)
3 - Ai Mori (JPN)
4 - Miho Nonaka (JPN)
5 - Shauna Coxsey (GBR)
6 - Lucka Rakovec (SLO)
Results Men TOP 6:
1 - Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN)
2 - Florian Klingler (AUT)
3 - Jongwon Chon (KOR)
4 - Kai Harada (JPN)
5 - Kokoro Fujii (JPN)
6 - Gregor Vezonik (SLO)
Watch the superfinal and final replays below:
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