Adam Ondra  – Czechia – qualified third

BUDAPEST – Comments from Czechia’s Adam Ondra after he finished third in the Men’s Boulder & Lead final at the OQS Budapest on Sunday and qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Adam Ondra – Czechia – qualified third

On the OQS experience:

“That’s the little step. It was a great experience, a great lesson. I’m pretty happy with the performance today. I know where I can improve and I still have some time to take a look at it.”

On whether he was holding back on the lead due to injury:

“Because of the shoulder, yes, but it’s alright, it just takes a few days and then I will be back to 100%, it's just a cramp in the shoulder. The format of this competition is that we don’t ever get to rest during those four days, so it was tough for my shoulder, but if I get one day’s rest it will be no problem.”

On the potential of winning an Olympic medal:

“A potential Olympic medal is what still makes me psyched for the competitions. Otherwise I would probably still be climbing on the rocks. That’s a great motivation for the next weeks to come, to be as ready as possible for Paris.

“Olympic medal would probably be my proudest competition performance I would ever have, that’s for sure. More than world championship titles. Matching my rock climbs, for sure.”

On how he can improve ahead of Paris 2024:

“I think I can still improve my endurance on the lead portion. I am pretty happy with my bouldering. Actually, my bouldering is way better than I would ever expect. Especially in Shanghai and Budapest, all my boulder rounds were really good. Probably I didn’t match my expectations on the lead, but I think there is still some time to make it better.”

On whether sport climbing becoming a two-discipline event gives him a better medal chance at Paris 2024 than he had at Tokyo 2020:

“Yes, but in the meantime the rivals got so much better. If this format was in Tokyo I think my chances would be really good.”

On France qualifying two athletes for Paris 2024 due to the quotas:

“It must be super tough for them. I was aware of it but it didn’t really influence my competition. It’s tough to be born in the competition where everybody is so strong, like France.”

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