D4: Paraclimbing final: “When the crowd remained silent”
Emotions during the B1 paraclimbing competition!
This is usual for the visual impairment paraclimbing competitions. The coach guides their athlete at the bottom of the route, with their voice. Using a radio or sometimes just by speaking loudly. The organization asks the crowd to remain silent. Made of 50 persons or more than 7000, it doesn’t change a thing, the crowd listens. Quietly.
Not a single noise, not a single whisper in the AccorHotels Arena. The four finalists are the center of attention. The French climber Nicolas Moineau is the first one to climb on this huge lead wall. Sebastien Gnecchi’s voice – the French paraclimbing coach – seems so small in the biggest arena in France. He gives accurate and dynamic advices to Nicolas. “Right, right, lower, ok. At 2:30pm now, more on the left, even more, ok, keep going… ». The advices seem endless.
Nicolas Moineau fights all the way. He is making his way through the steep overhang that never looked so difficult. He is now in the pull-up section, but he has no energy left. He keeps fighting, tries to hold on to anything he can grab. Unfortunately, he won’t go any further in this slab section. The Spanish Francisco Javier Aguilar will stop in the overhang. He will finish 4th. The Japanese Koichiro Kobayashi has a good rhythm in the route. He is quick and comes easily to the upper section. He makes it and stops one move away from the top, when the crowd thought he was going to top it. Matteo Stefani from Italy won’t do better and gets the bronze medal. Koichiro Kobayashi is the new 2016 world champion, Nicolas Moineau gets the silver medal.