13.08.2023
Nach 12 Tagen voller Spannung und Kletter-Action ist die WM Sportklettern 2023 am 12. August in der Bundesstadt erfolgreich zu Ende gegangen. Neben den sportlichen Höhepunkten und der Vergabe der ersten Plätze für die Olympischen Spiele 2024 in Paris war es vor allem die beeindruckende Atmosphäre in der PostFinance-Arena, die im Gedächtnis bleibt.
Over the last 12 days, a total of 631 athletes from 56 nations competed for the coveted IFSC Climbing & Paraclimbing World Championships medals in the four disciplines Boulder, Lead, Speed and Boulder & Lead in the PostFinance Arena and the Curlinghalle Bern. Exciting competitions and a spectacular show ensured that Bern was soon completely caught by the climbing fever. The incredible atmosphere in the arena gripped climbing fans as well as those who were just discovering the sport and made the athletes outdo themselves.
«It was almost like climbing at home», said the new Lead and Combined world champion Jakob Schubert from Austria after the Lead competition. Martin Rhyner, COO of the IFSC Climbing & Paraclimbing World Championships Bern 2023, highlighted the unique atmosphere as well: “For us, the highlight was certainly that the spectators celebrated all the athletes. It was an incredible atmosphere. I don’t know if it’s because of the halls, where there’s usually a huge party at the hockey games. That was carried over to climbing. We also get feedback on the overwhelming atmosphere from the athletes. For us as organisers, that’s great to see.”
Around 42,000 spectators came to Bern to cheer on the world’s climbing elite and to be close to the stars. Whether young or old – the World Championships offered something for everyone. The family-friendly “Village of Experiences” in front of the PostFinance Arena was also well received and well attended.
Medals and Olympic tickets awarded
The first medals of the World Championships were awarded in the Boulder discipline. While France’s Mickael Mawem stirred up the men’s field and secured the title, Olympic champion and favourite Janja Garnbret from Slovenia won the women’s event with four flashes in both the semi-final and the final. In the discipline Lead, Austria’s Jakob Schubert and Ai Mori from Japan took the gold medals.
Matteo Zurloni from Italy and Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi are not only the new Speed title holders, but also booked their ticket to the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, together with the respective runners-up Long Jinbao from PR of China and Emma Hunt from the USA.
Janja Garnbret, Austria’s Jessica Pilz and Ai Mori secured the podium places – in that order – in the combined Olympic format for women and thus also the tickets for Paris 2024. In the men’s category it was Jakob Schubert, Colin Duffy from the USA and Tomoa Narasaki from Japan who won the medals and thus the much-coveted Olympic places.
There were a total of 17 world champions at the Paraclimbing World Championships. From a Swiss point of view, there was also a medal: para-athlete Dominic Geisseler won bronze at the Paraclimbing World Championships. The 42-year-old with only two fingers started in the AU3 category.
Also successful digitally
The World Championship was also a complete success in the area of digital media. All channels of the 2023 World Cup Sport Climbing – Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter – together reached 249’184 accounts. The number of impressions for all Bern 2023 channels is 1’432’189. The organisers are more than satisfied with this result. The enthusiasm for the sport of climbing has thus not only been shown in the arena, but can also be transferred to the digital world.
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Future project: World Cup in Bern
The World Championships in Bern proved to be an important step for the future of climbing in Switzerland and especially in the region of Bern: when the World Championships came to an end, the International Federation of Sport Climbing IFSC confirmed that a Boulder World Cup will be held in Bern from 2025 onwards.
Daniel Marbacher, CEO of the 2023 World Cup Sport Climbing and Managing Director of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, is delighted with the legacy of the IFSC Climbing & Paraclimbing World Championships: “We are proud of what we have achieved here in Bern during these 12 days. With this spectacular event, we have not only been able to attract the climbing-loving public, but also non-climbers, who have been caught the climbing fever. We are all the more pleased that the World Championships will leave a tangible legacy with the World Cup 2025 in Bern. We are already looking forward to this new project to promote climbing in Switzerland.”
Photo: David Schweizer