原田海のインスタグラム(kai_hrd) - 1月14日 19時27分

#Repost @bouldering_throwback (@get_repost)
・・・
SOUND ON 🔊
Here is a #boulderingthrowback to the 2018 Youth World Championships in Moscow, Russia. Kai Harada arrived to this competition as one of the favorites in the junior male category, and with clear expectations to take the youth world championship title. Kai reached the fourth boulder with an ultimatum: top and win or no top and no win. Kai could not complete the problem in the four minute time limit, and realising his failure left him so devastated he lay face down on the mat, crying, for more than 10 minutes.

However, Kai Harada received his consolation pretty quickly. Only a month later, Kai competed in the Senior World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. He managed to reach the final, where he showed a very impressive performance, securing the win by being the only one capable of achieving four tops. Kai once again finished the competition with tears in eyes, but this time tears of joy.

This is an incredible story, and Kai is clearly one of the best boulderers in the world, definitely deserving of his world championship title and a youth world championship title. However, it is impossible for me to ignore how this story is one of the biggest highlights of the randomness of bouldering competitions. In Moscow, on that specific day and on those specific boulders, Meichi Narasaki was simply the better climber. In Innsbruck Kai was the better of the two, and the better of many others. Since then he has competed in many competitions, and in some he has done better and in some he has done worse, and not because his level varied between these competitions, but simply because the boulders in each competition suited his body type and style of movement differently each time, and the same can be said for every other competitor. The climbing community should probably ask itself at some point, if this randomness is what we want showcasing our sport, without ever truly distinguishing the level of the climbers, and if this format is truly the way to measure the abilities of a climber. What do you think?

Song is “Still Don’t Know My Name” by Labrinth

[BIHAKUEN]UVシールド(UVShield)

>> 飲む日焼け止め！「UVシールド」を購入する