All Eyes look to the future on Day One of IFSC Plenary Assembly Activities

After the opening cocktail evening at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday evening, Thursday saw IFSC Member Federations, Board and Staff members continue the week’s events with a full day of meetings and workshops.

The IFSC Executive Board met with IFSC Staff for the first of a two-day preparatory meeting ahead of the Plenary Assembly, where statutes were reviewed and all were brought up to speed on plans for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 by Head of Olympic Coordination Jérôme Meyer.

IFSC Board and Staff members prepare for the 2019 Plenary Assembly.

At the same time, representatives of the IFSC Member Federations took part in a day of workshops. The morning workshop focused on the Olympics, diving into rules and regulations provided by the International Olympic Committee. In an informative seminar, Jérôme Meyer, IFSC head of Olympic Coordination, advised National Federations on the branding and equipment guidelines for Athletes taking part in the Sport Climbing events at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The workshop also addressed the Olympic Qualification system and possible selection decisions which National Olympic Federations may face. Again, the focus was to prepare and advise IFSC National Federations so that they can fully assume their role in supporting the National Olympic Federations in the Athlete selection. The morning workshop concluded with a discussion of the Olympic Solidarity program, headed by Silvia Verdolini, IFSC Sport Director, and Naomi Cleary from Sport Climbing Australia. The two introduced best practice on how National Federations can proactively and efficiently work with their National Olympic Committee using the Olympic Solidarity framework.

Naomi Cleary of Sport Climbing Australia talks about the Olympic Solidarity program.

After lunch, National Federations reconvened to discuss changes in the upcoming IFSC event seasons. First of these was the IFSC Official Sport Equipment Project presented by Silvia Verdolini. The initiative started in 2018 to catalogue permissible equipment, with the aim to make the playing field fairer across international IFSC events. Using the same equipment at each IFSC event ensures that all stakeholders share the same experience, from Athletes and National Federations to Routesetters and Event Organisers. The workshop concluded with a presentation from Matthias Polig, CEO of Vertical-Life. Contracted to develop a new membership database and competition result software, the company provides a range of digital tools to improve climbing development. Matthias’ presentation gave attendees a view of the digital future of our sport.

The day culminated with a visit of the Aomi Olympic Games site for the IFSC Staff and Board members, allowing the team to see the location where Sport Climbing is set to take centre stage at the Games in 2020. IFSC and JMSCA representatives then met for dinner to celebrate a successful start to the 2019 IFSC Plenary Assembly events, with JMSCA co-organising the gathering this year. 2019 promises to be a busy but exciting year for the IFSC and JMSCA, as preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the 2019 World Championships continue.

IFSC President Marco Maria Scolaris with JMSCA President Kuniaki Yagihara and JMSCA Vice-President Yuji Hirayama during the IFSC and JMSCA dinner.