The Crux Episode 3 | Full Episode | National Geographic

I was climbing so well and I was, like, in such a good position to get really good score. And I just was like, now I'm going to fall off like, that was perfectly average. You know, **** my life. Everyone wants to win. For the athletes that have lost the World Championships, they have to look at the next continental championship. These are smaller competitions compromising of only competitors from that continent. Only the winner of each event gets an Olympic ticket. They have to go away, retrain, refocus and come back stronger.

My best chance for Olympic selection is to win that continental competition. After World Championships, I went back home to Melbourne. Began training entirely with the continental championships on the forefront. The Olympic selection this year adds this like whole new level. I was quite close to selection last time, but it was this whole big disaster. Essentially, lots of like personal things that went on in my life. So I feel like kind of coming back with a little bit of a vengeance for this one, almost.

The fact that we have these continental qualifiers, it's an incredible opportunity where, you know, my chances there are potentially quite a bit higher than at World Championships, for instance. It's like this really unique opportunity that I feel really compelled to seize. What’s an easy wedge? Yeah. Come on. When we climb together, it's just fun mostly. For me, climbing is, like, purely a hobby, and it's just come here to chill and, you know, usually.

Like, if we're gonna climb together, I fit that into my training in a way that it's like, it's a fun session. Easy peasy. When I was growing up and going through my journey of discovering who I was, I didn't really have queer people to look up to and see them living these whole complete lives that they were, like, genuinely happy with. My friends on the national team were the first group of people that I actually came out to. That's when I really, like, fell in love with climbing, and it started to kind of take over in my life from there.

We will continue with the IFSC Climbing Asian Qualifiers 2023. We're seeing some of the finest climbers in Asia fighting for a ticket to Paris Olympics 2024. Next up, please welcome, from Japan, Nonaka Miho. I see a lot of fans, huh? Which is nice. So when I started managing Miho, I believed she needed a team around her which can support her and she can focus on her climbing.

And it is the end of the climb for Miho Nonaka. A strong effort. That's fine. Thank you to Miss Tanaka for that climb. After the Tokyo Olympics, a lot of media exposure. She was recognized a lot on the street. Like everywhere she goes. It was pretty crazy. Our goal is not to participate in the Paris Olympics; we are going to win another medal. She needs to win. Asian qualifier happening in Jakarta now. Otherwise, we can secure the spot. I'm really confident that Miho will win a spot this weekend. It has to happen.

Bon appétit, bon appétit - as they say - in Germany. I'm feeling good about the event. I think, like, yeah, all the work, all the work has gone in. I feel confident about what I've done. I feel like I don't have any regrets. I feel good about being able to just, like, go in and enjoy the day and have fun. And I hope that like everyone else who's at the comp is also going to go in there and have fun.

It can get a bit awkward to compete like that with friends. Yeah, some of those guys are your friends. It’s such a strange dynamic where normally you just compete with one another. But in this instance, like by winning, you really are, like, taking something away from somebody else. And I think part of me also is like dreading that aspect of it. But it would be definitely nice to add a little Olympic ticket. Oh, we can only hope.

The focus of this year has all been on being able to perform at the Olympic qualifier and hopefully claim a ticket. We have a pretty big team across all the disciplines, and I think we have pretty promising qualifying prospects. Max Pare has a really good chance of putting in a strong performance. My main goal is just to trust in what I've done, trust in the work that I've put in. And hopefully, like, come out of the competition feeling like I didn't leave anything behind.

Oh well done, Campbell. Campbell did very well. 80 points, so good few moves ahead of the rest of them. Since it’s my first kind of Olympic qualifier and I'm only 20, I didn't really come into this competition with like super high expectations—like I'm gonna win. Four moves from the top. So like 64. I'm thinking about the Olympic spot is only one spot that comes out of this event. Definitely would like to earn that spot for sure. Nice. Max, come on. Very nicely.

The boulderer’s section that will be very confident through there. In most competitions, I probably wouldn't press something like this. And I feel really bad. But at the end of the day, like, it's so high stakes. Because there's two places available for the Olympics within the country. Not only are we talking about competing against someone from a different nationality, these athletes are starting to compete against athletes in their own countries. To win, other people have to fail. It's silly to pretend “I'm just doing this for myself.” I do it to win.

You're beginning to see these tensions within the teams themselves. They travel together, they train together. They compete against each other. Their world is climbing. We have the top eight to decide which representative will be leaving for Paris 2024. The strategy for her to win is she can't miss any boulder problems. If she tops all the boulders, she's in so much advantage on lead. I think it's a little bit hotter than yesterday. Also humid. It's going to be really hot.

Hope she'll be able to show us what she has. If Miho doesn't get in, she's in a little bit of trouble. She's going to be quite a long way behind on two leaders. For Miho Nonaka, she’s back in the game, fully. That is one of the best mental performances I’ve seen. Such a good turnaround. It's been hot. It's been sweaty. It's been incredible. And we are watching the final four athletes to enter the stage. Yuetong Zhang, second Chinese athlete in this final.

Oh, campus is over. She's clearly got some energy left. Big bump up. This is a great performance from her. She hasn’t clipped here, she's just going for the points. Oh, no she's not. Forget what I said. Just proved you wrong. There we go. Sometimes an athlete will do that when they're too pumped to clip. She clearly wasn't. Oh, and then falls, and that will move her into first position. Miho Tanaka booted by Ito. They will try to knock Yuetong Zhang off the top spot. She needs a heck of a performance here. 64.9, though with a good boulder round.

It's gonna leave her less work to do out here, but she still needs to put in a good performance to get this one. And that is the end of the climb for Miho Nonaka. And for Miho Nonaka, ah, she gave it everything. It wasn't enough tonight. Yuetong Zhang stays in the top spot. If you step on a bolt or stabilize your position using the bolt, that's let's not say cheating, but that's against the rules of the sport. You know you're meant to be climbing. Just you against the wall, not stepping on random pieces of hardware.

I looked at both our video and the live stream, seemed fairly clear to me that Max's foot was sort of off, and a little bit up to the right of the bolt. So sadly for Campbell, I had to reject his appeal. And the thing when there's only one person in to qualify to the games from this, you know, those points could be important. It's an Olympic spot. There’s an Olympic spot up for grabs for one male, one female.

Dreams are going to be made here today. I have to be the best climber from Oceania at this event. My best chance for Olympic selection is to win that. Campbell’s limbs just swinging around there looking for those balance points. Since Olympic selection last time, it's definitely taken me a long time to learn how to deal with the pressure of these big moments where it's kind of all on the line and I'll be okay, and that I can handle the disappointment if the event doesn't go how I want it to.

Justin was very instrumental in supporting me through those struggles. Having him at the competitions and knowing he has my back is always really special. He seems to always know, like the right thing to say or the right way to behave. It's always really genuine and empowering. The boulder round is done. The best is yet to come. The finish, in the lead this afternoon. I'm pumped. I'm excited, what about you guys?

Whilst I've got a lot on the line and there's a lot of risk going into this event, there's no sort of alternate version of going to the Olympics that didn’t involve that risk. I always try to remind myself that when I'm putting my shoes on, I have to put my shoes on, like, slowly and calmly. I'm trying to make this moment as free of pressure as I can. At the end of the day, you just step out onto the mats and switch off everything else. Switching to the task at hand and give it everything, I guess.

Here’s Campbell. This is it for him. This is Campbell. Come on, come on, let's go. But he doesn't know obviously, what we know, but he's pretty much going to need to be up and around that top to take a shot. I think it's so important to reflect back on where you were and where you are now, and how your past self would feel about your accomplishments. Because like they are huge achievements, even if they feel like they pale in comparison to like what your eyes are set on next.

Yeah, Campbell! 16-year-old me would be really proud and really motivated by what I've been able to do. And current me is also very proud of those things, but I feel like I've just kind of scratched the surface of what I can do. I want to be able to give myself every opportunity to realize my full potential. It's kind of hard to, like, process the concept of being an Olympian and overwhelming. It's going to be a fun ride. I'm sure there are lots of tough times to come, but I'm really looking forward to it.

And so grateful to be able to, like, take that next step. To represent my country. It means so much not only to me but to everyone in Ukraine to have hope. She is currently in first position with one climber to go.