Adam Ondra (Czech pronunciation: [ˈadam ˈondra]; born February 5, 1993) is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. In 2013, Rock & Ice described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation.[1] Ondra is the only male athlete to have won World Championship titles in both disciplines in the same year (2014) and is one of the two male athletes (alongside Sorato Anraku in 2023) to have won the World Cup series in both disciplines (lead climbing in 2009, 2015, and 2019 and bouldering in 2010).
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | (1993-02-05) February 5, 1993 (age 31) Brno, Czech Republic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | Masaryk University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Professional rock climber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Iva Ondra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Climbing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type of climber |
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Ape index | +1cm (0.4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest grade |
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Known for |
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First ascents |
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Medal record
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Updated on April 19, 2021 |
At age 13, Ondra redpointed his first graded 9a (5.14d) sport route. Rock & Ice noted that by 2011, he was "onsighting 5.14c's by the handful", and by 2013, had "more or less repeated every hard route in the world—easily".[1] By end 2018, Ondra had climbed 1,550 sport routes between grades 8a (5.13b) and 9c (5.15d), of which one was a 9c (5.15d), three were 9b+ (5.15c), and three were onsights of 9a (5.14d).[2]
Ondra is the first climber to redpoint a route with a proposed grade of 9c (5.15d) (Silence, 2017),[3] the first-ever climber to redpoint a 9b+ (5.15c) route (Change, 2012),[4] the first-evertoflasha9a+ (5.15a) route (Supercrackinette, 2018), and the second ever to onsight a 9a (5.14d) route (Cabane au Canada, 2013).[5] According to The Economist, Ondra is "regarded as possibly the best climber ever to fondle rock".[6]
Ondra started climbing at the age of six; his parents are climbers, and they shared their passion with him. In 1999, at age six, in Rovinj, Croatia, Ondra climbed a 6a (5.10a) route with bolts every half meter. He quickly rose to fame, appearing in climbing magazines as his accomplishments became both more impressive and frequent:
In 2007 and 2008, he won the IFSC World Youth Championship, category Youth B. In 2009, at age sixteen, Ondra competed for the first time in the Lead Climbing World Cup, finishing ahead of Spanish Patxi Usobiaga and Japanese Sachi Amma.[8] In 2010, he won the Bouldering World Cup, beating Austrian climber Kilian Fischhuber and Tsukuru Hori from Japan, becoming the first athlete in history to win the World Cup in both disciplines (lead and bouldering).[9]
Ondra failed to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships, as he was disqualified for accidentally toeing a bolt during the lead climbing portion of the combined event.[10] However, at the Olympic qualifying event in Toulouse later that year, he managed to secure a place in the Olympic Games,[11] despite falling ill after reaching the finals of the event.
In April 2021 Ondra won gold in the bouldering discipline at the IFSC World Cup in Meiringen, Switzerland. This marked his 20th World Cup gold medal.[12] In August 2021, Ondra finished in sixth place at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[13]
During a March 2011 trip to Spain, Ondra became the second-ever person to onsight a 8c+ (5.14c) route, after Patxi Usobiaga.[14] On October 4, 2012, Ondra redpointed Change in the Hanshelleren Cave, Flatanger, Norway, the world's first-ever route to receive a grade of 9b+ (5.15c).[4][15]
On February 7, 2013, Ondra ascended La Dura DurainOliana, Catalonia, Spain, his second 9b+ (5.15c) after Change. He worked on this project with American climber Chris Sharma, and the first ascent took Ondra nine weeks.[16] On February 9, 2013, two days after La Dura Dura, Ondra succeeded in the second ascent of the 9b (5.15b) route, Fight or flight, first climbed by Sharma in 2011.[17] On July 9, 2013, Ondra realized the second-ever onsight of a 9a (5.14d) route in history, after Alexander Megos, with the ascent of Cabane au Canada in Rawyl, Switzerland.[5]
On November 21, 2016, Ondra completed the second free ascent of the 1,000-metre granite route, The Dawn Wall, a 32-pitch grade 5.14d (9a) big wall climbing route at El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley. The route was widely regarded as the hardest big wall climbing route in the world. Ondra led every pitch and completed the project in 8 days (the first ascenders, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson alternated leads, and spent 19 days on the wall).[18]
On April 23, 2017, Ondra set a new highpoint for Black Diamond's The Project indoor sport route in Stockholm, Sweden, which is believed to be the hardest in the world.[19]
On September 3, 2017, after about 4 years of dedicated work and training, Ondra climbed Silence, in the Hanshelleren Cave in Flatanger, Norway. Silence was the world's first-ever route to have a proposed grade of 9c (5.15d).[3] On February 10, 2018, Ondra completed the world's first-ever flash of a confirmed 9a+ (5.15a) route with his ascent of Super Crackinette in Saint-Léger du Ventoux, France.[20]
Discipline | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | 1 | 3 | 57 | - | 11 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 27 | 31 | 1 | 31 |
Bouldering | 15 | 1 | - | - | - | 24 | 3 | - | - | - | 2 | 3 |
Speed | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Combined | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 65 | - | 2 | - |
Youth[22]
Discipline | 2007 Youth B |
2008 Youth B |
2009 Youth A |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Adult[22]
Discipline | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Bouldering | - | 2 | - | 1 | 2 | 17 | 6 |
Speed | - | 70 | - | - | - | 81 | 58 |
Combined | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 18 |
Discipline | 2010 | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Bouldering | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | 3 |
Discipline | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | ||||
Duel | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | |||
KO Boulder | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Season | Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Youth B | 5 | 5 | ||
2008 | Youth B | 5 | 5 | ||
Total | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 4 | 4 | ||
2010 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
2011 2012 |
0 | |||
2013 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
2014 | 3 | 3 | ||
2015 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
2016 | 0 | |||
2017 | 1 | 1 | ||
2018 | 0 | |||
2019 | 3 | 3 | ||
2020 | 1 | 1 | ||
2021 | 0 | |||
2022 | 1 | 1 | ||
2023 | 1 | 1 | ||
Total | 16 | 6 | 1 | 23 |
Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 1 | 1 | ||
2010 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
2011 2012 2013 |
0 | |||
2014 | 1 | 1 | ||
2015 | 2 | 2 | ||
2016 2017 2018 |
0 | |||
2019 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
2021 | 2 | 2 | ||
2022 | 0 | |||
2023 | 1 | 1 | ||
Total | 6 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
The table below shows the large number of routes graded 8a (5.13b) or more ascended by Adam Ondra in about 16 years, from August 2, 2002 (when he redpointed his first 8a) to November 10, 2018.[2] The total number is 1554, of which one was at 9c (5.15d) and 725 were onsighted, including four onsights at 9a (5.14d) and one flash at 9a+ (5.15a).[2]
Grade | Redpoint | Flash | On-sight | Total |
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9c (5.15d) | 1 | 1 | ||
9b+ (5.15c) | 4 | 4 | ||
9b (5.15b) | 20 | 20 | ||
9a+ (5.15a) | 39 | 1 | 40 | |
9a (5.14d) | 101 | 2 | 4 | 107 |
8c+ (5.14c) | 124 | 1 | 21 | 146 |
8c (5.14b) | 110 | 1 | 61 | 172 |
8b+ (5.14a) | 96 | 4 | 85 | 185 |
8b (5.13d) | 108 | 19 | 143 | 270 |
8a+ (5.13c) | 82 | 17 | 207 | 306 |
8a (5.13b) | 65 | 35 | 205 | 305 |
Total | 750 | 80 | 725 | 1555 |
9c (5.15d):
9b+ (5.15c):
9b (5.15b):
9a+ (5.15a):
9a (5.14d):
8c+ (5.14c):
8c (5.14b):
Ondra won the bouldering gathering Melloblocco in 2008,[66] 2009[67] 2010[68] and 2011.[69]
He climbed 293 boulder problems between 8A (V11) and 8C+ (V16).[70] Specifically:
8C+ (V16):
8C/8C+ :
8C (V15):