Sport Director Jerome Meyer was in Buenos Aires this week for an IOC workshop. The workshop, organised to develop the “Urban Park” at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018, brought together directors from several sports, local organising committee, and the IOC. Mr. Meyer also met with representatives of the Argentinian National Federation, notably President Mariano Rodriguez Giesso , and Secretary for Climbing Martin Lascano Gonzalez.

Jerome Meyer meets with FASA President Martin Lascano (2nd from left) and the team.

Reza Alipourshenazandifar registered no times above six seconds, Anouck Jaubert returned to the top and Romain Desgranges and Janja Garnbret won the first Lead event of 2017 at IFSC World Cup Villars.

The European Championships in Lead and Speed were held on the first weekend of July in Campitello di Fassa, starting off the month with an exciting competition. The event also provided the backdrop for meetings between IFSC President Marco Scolaris, and IFSC European Council President Wolfgang Wabel. Topics included the development of the European council and the upcoming joint event in Munich, which is both a World Cup and a European Championship.

President Marco Scolaris and Vice-President of Sport Kobinata Toru met in Turin for a two-day meeting on June 17^th and 18^th. The meetings focused on preparation of the calendar in the upcoming years, as well as addressing key issues in relation to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

IFSC staff including Sport Director Jerome Meyer and Administration Director Francesca Jengo attended several meetings at the IOC offices in Lausanne on Wednesday 28th of June. These meetings were aimed at ensuring full coordination between the IFSC and the IOC in the run up to the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018.
Meetings included discussions around Sport Climbing’s presence at the Youth Olympic Games as well as coordination with representatives from the IOC Sustainability Commissions and the Olympic Solidarity. Meetings provided additional information on the resources available to Athletes and National Federations through the National Olympic Committees and the IOC. Meetings on Sustainability opened doors and ideas for future projects within the IFSC to further work towards Environmental and Sustainability goals.

IFSC Staff met in Aix-le-Baines on Monday, June 19th for a mid-year meeting regarding internal organisation and communication. One-on-one and group meetings were held to strengthen an understanding of achievements and needs for development. Discussions also helped to re-align staff and confirm internal strategy for the upcoming months.

The monthly Executive Board Teleconference in June took place on June 15th. Topics discussed included updates on developments regarding Tokyo 2020, alignment on the Continental Youth Championships and other qualifying events for Buenos Aires and an initial assessment of the applications for the 2018 event Calendar. In addition, Honorary Member Helmut Knabl was appointed to coordinate the Masters and Promotional events calendar.

President Marco Maria Scolaris, Secretary General Debra Garwych and Marketing and Communications Director Anne Fuynel attended the Vail World Cup, hosted in the framework of the GoPro Mountain Games.  Officials met representatives from the United States Olympic Committe.  In addition, the World Cup offered an opportunity for the IFSC delegates to both see the World Cup in the United States and attend several organisational meetings.

Meetings around the World Cups focused on aligning the goals of USA climbing and the IFSC, furthering the development of Sport Climbing in USA, and strengthening relationships between the two organisations. The Vail World Cup has been a consistent event on the IFSC calendar.

Climbing has begun for the Asian Youth Championships 2017 in Singapore!

With a break in the IFSC Bouldering World Cup before the final event in Munich, the rope climbing returns with the first Lead and third Speed events of 2017 at Villars, followed by a rematch in Lead at Chamonix.