Spoiler: Post discloses the winners of Hachioji 2023 Boulder World Cup

Weese Ritherspoon wrote:

It's great she won a WC, chapeau, but one couldn't have been standing on a higher ladder to make a slam dunk. 

I'd wager a pretty penny that if you stood on that same "ladder" you'd miss the net completely.

The "privilege" and genetics will get you exactly as far as the front door.

JCM wrote:

Ironically, I didn't know the Kings lost until reading Todd's post here. 

Sounds like someone is gonna get exiled from Sacramento this week. I hear it’s gonna be 80 in seattle this weekend.

Andy Shoemaker wrote:

Wonder what was up with the US men.  Duffy down in 27th, SB barely cracked the top 50.  Team Japan and Team France didn't leave many spots in the top 20 up for grabs might be the simplest reason we didn't see any American men in the Semi's and beyond.

Sean hasn't been doing that well since his amazing year in 2021 (go watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OneTmfEsANI "Proof of Concept" if you haven't seen it!  So good!)

Colin started college here at CU, doing applied math.  He's still training hard and aiming for Paris 2024, but I'm sure he's focusing on studies now (Applied Math major and he took a full load last term).  That said, I don't think we've seen the last of him. He's only 19.  (Nb: I've been trying to get him to switch to Computer Science... better pay and more flexibility for a climber who travels no?)

These comps feel so random sometimes... the dude who took 2nd (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER  OMGahhhh....) Hannes Van Duysen, hadn't even made a semifinal before.  Tomoa struggled on boulders that were perfect for his style.

Todd Berlier wrote:

lol! 

(warning: very intentional thread drift coming)

things seem to be melting fast in tahoe, been up yet? i havent but probably going to check it out this weekend. pretty sure gated roads are closed until may 1st this year.

Haven't been up there yet; been climbing lower elevation and coastal/bay area. Definitely interested in anything you find. Maybe we should start a snow conditions thread.

Edit: created the thread

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/124085326/tahoe-bouldering-spring-2023-snow-conditions-thread

Watched it last night. All came together for Brooke, a level above all the other competitors.

Of course she has massive privilege and expectations, but that has its own kind of pressure. Many top teams and sportspeople, who have everything on paper, make careers out of choking or living in the shadow of generational phenomenons like Janja.

JCM wrote:

Ironically, I didn't know the Kings lost until reading Todd's post here. 

I joke that this is why I follow Australian domestic soccer, one of the world's saddest and most ignored sporting leagues. It's impossible to get spoiled.

Of course both Shawn and Brooke have every advantage when it comes to genes and opportunity, but we all know they wouldn’t be where they are without an insane amount of dedication and effort. It’s not like they are being handed achievements just because of their pedigrees. They still have to earn their sends/competition results.

It’s actually surprising that they are both so talented. Usually with such gifted parents, there is a regression to the mean and and the kids are less successful.

SethG wrote:

Of course both Shawn and Brooke have every advantage when it comes to genes and opportunity, but we all know they wouldn’t be where they are without an insane amount of dedication and effort. It’s not like they are being handed achievements just because of their pedigrees. They still have to earn their sends/competition results.

It’s actually surprising that they are both so talented. Usually with such gifted parents, there is a regression to the mean and and the kids are less successful.

The highest performing athletes almost always have "all of the above" in terms of advantages. To reach the pinnacle of a sport, you generally need to have exceptional natural talent, exceptional drive/dedication/effort, and exceptional environment/support/coaching. You can become  a very good climber with just one or two of those things, but to reach 15d, V17, or World Cup wins the full package is needed. 

So I think it's reasonable to acknowledge to role that family background, support, and coaching played in Shawn and Brooke's success. But I don't think that it should take away from their dedication and effort. They needed all of those things to get where they are.

If you look at other top World Cup performers, they generally had exceptional coaching or climbing environment from an early age also. Megos was basically raised in a German national team lab, Ondra's parents were taking him sport climbing all around Europe through his childhood, Janja is from Slovenia, which seems designed to create great climbers. All of them also have great natural talent, and exceptional work ethic to get where they are.

JCM wrote:

If you look at other top World Cup performers, they generally had exceptional coaching or climbing environment from an early age also. Megos was basically raised in a German national team lab, Ondra's parents were taking him sport climbing all around Europe through his childhood, Janja is from Slovenia, which seems designed to create great climbers. All of them also have great natural talent, and exceptional work ethic to get where they are.

And if you know anything about USA Climbing, you know they're very underfunded with pathetic training facilities next to (say) Japan.  The SLC training center is basically in a run down warehouse.  There is virtually no funding to support travel unless you're ranked #1.  What does this mean for US climbers?

To be great (which requires climbing from a young age, traveling to comps, hiring coaches, etc) you need to be born to a fairly wealthy family where the parents invest in seeing you become a top athlete.  ABC Climbing here in Boulder... it ain't cheap.  Annie Sanders' parents basically live to support and nurture her talent.  And there are other examples.

I don't have any experience in other youth sports, so maybe this is just the norm in the US.