Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) and Sean McColl (CAN) are the adidas ROCKSTARS 2014
This weekend the international climbing community gathered for a veritable Climbing Rock Show in Germany at Stuttgart's modern Porsche-Arena. Around 70 athletes from 20 different countries, including World Champions, European Champions and World Cup winners, met at the adidas ROCKSTARS boulder invitational to compete on a giant stage, accompanied by intoxicating music performances.
Within 10 days the Porsche-Arena turned into a climbing arena. 3,500 enthusiastic spectators came to celebrate the twelve finalists from nine countries on Saturday evening. Pumped up by punkrockband Badasstics, European Beatbox Champion Robeat and the extreme sports DJs Chainsaw and Sungod, the athletes went beyond themselves and delivered extra power when there was actually none left. In a thrilling superfinal on a dual boulder, on which the two best athletes climb simultaneously an identical route, the 2014 Overall World Cup Champion Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) and the reigning Climbing World Champion Overall, Sean McColl (CAN) claimed the title adidas ROCKSTARS 2014, ahead of lead expert Mina Marcovic from Slovenia and 18-year old Jongwon Chon from Korea.
November 4, 2023 – Val Verzasca, Switzerland – The Verzasca Dam, an engineering marvel nestled in the picturesque Val Verzasca of Switzerland that stands 220 meters tall, became the stage for the climbing elite. Red Bull Dual Ascent, now in its
second edition, attracted 24 of the world's best…
"I don’t even know what to say, normally the finals aren’t that close, especially for the men“, Sean McColl says. "I did the jump, and the jump move was really hard. I glanced over and saw that Chon had also done the jump, so I knew that it was going to be hard all the way until the end. And ready as I was mentally, I thought that my natural, fast climbing ability would make me slightly ahead, but I could see in the corner of my eye that he was right there on par so I tried to do a big leap for the buzzer. I kind of slipped and thought that - oh no! - I could just feel the victory slipping away. I wasn’t sure if I had hit the buzzer, so I was just laying there thinking… 'Well, it doesn’t matter if your first or second, it was a very good event!' What I really like about adidas ROCKSTARS is the thought that they put into everything that may seem small, but that is actually quite important to the athlete. As soon as I was in the top three I knew that I would get another adidas ROCKSTARS star. Already being in the finals I was very happy, as you get further you just get more content, but obviously everyone is reaching for the victory. Luckily for me all the cards just came in."
"It’s so great to win adidas ROCKSTARS, I still can’t believe it“, Akiyo Noguchi raves. "I was not nervous, though it was very exciting. I injured my shoulder three days ago and I would love to say thank you to the team working at the adidas Reload Team here at the athlete lounge. Thanks to them I could continue the competition and take home the victory. It’s great to see how this event keeps growing, hopefully it will also be the same next year."
Adam Ondra dominated the bouldering scene again and won a gold medal in the second World Cup competition in Salt Lake City. He took second place in the qualification and proceeded to the finals from the same position. This time, he was surprised by the victory and admits that a little luck was…
Adam Ondra completed today's finals in Meiringen, Switzerland, and won a gold medal in the first competition of this year's World Cup. He kept first place in bouldering continuously from the qualification until the very exciting finals. He was satisfied with his excellent form and appreciated a…
