Born in the Czech Republic, Adam Ondra has built up a decorated career since his early competitions, winning his first World Championships medal in 2009 in lead climbing. He was a favourite for Tokyo 2020 gold, but an uncharacteristic off-day proved his undoing.

Ondra began climbing at the age of six, and by the time he was 13 he had climbed his first graded 9a route, ranking near the top end of the difficulty scale (5.14d). He also became the first person to climb 9b+ and 9c routes.