Great performance by the German climbers at the European Championships: Both Yannick Flohé and Christoph Schweiger confidently reached the semi-finals on Saturday (08/13/2022) in bouldering. Alex Megos also made it.
The climbers started their European Championships with the bouldering qualification. Germany’s hope for a medal, Yannick Flohé, had to go first at Munich’s Königsplatz. The native of Essen was able to win bronze in bouldering at the World Championships in 2019 and gold in the combination in 2021. In June, the 23-year-old celebrated his first World Cup victory in Brixen. So the form was right before this European Championship.
Flohé – after the start-up phase in the flow
Flohé then proved that in Munich – but needed a start-up phase. Nothing worked for a few minutes on his first attempt, before Flohé climbed at least one more important zone at the last moment and secured the first three points. After this bumpy start, however, he knew how to improve.
At the second boulder, the German grabbed the zone in the fourth attempt, held on acrobatically for a long time and then climbed to the top. The first top gave the 23-year-old not only important points but also a lot of self-confidence. With a total of 65.2 points and three completed boulders, the German even led the ranking for a while and had good chances of reaching the semi-finals.
Schweiger surprised – booked semi-finals before Flohé
In Flohé’s preliminary group, his only 20-year-old compatriot Christoph Schweiger did quite astonishingly well. The 2020 German runner-up from Ingolstadt climbed courageously and risky and finished his qualification just ahead of Yannick Flohé in third place in Group A.
He was also able to conquer three boulders and ended up 0.2 points ahead of his compatriot. The good news was clear early on: Both German starters in this group secured places in the next round, the semi-finals.
Megos “cheats” into the semi-finals
Alexander Megos and Max Kleesattel were in two other groups. Two tops, two zones and a total of 46 points left Megos in sixth place in his group for a long time, but in the end seventh place was enough for him to reach the semi-finals. Kleesattel was unlucky and retired eleventh in his group.
Bouldering – via zones to the “rock block”
When bouldering (boulder English for “rock”) is climbed at a low height on a wall, falls are intercepted by soft floor mats. The aim is to solve four to five boulders, i.e. “problem areas”, in a timely manner. The score is based on how many “tops” and “zones” are reached (and how many attempts are required to do so). Tops means: The boulder is solved; the zone is usually reached about halfway up the boulder.
“Speed” and “Lead” are held as additional disciplines at the Europeam Championships. “Speed” involves climbing on a standardized, 15-meter-high wall with two routes, each of which has to be completed once in a timed manner. Climbing takes place in pairs in the knockout system.
The “Lead” involves climbing a wall up to 15 meters high with a rope. The aim is to climb a route within a certain time without falling and higher than the competition.