In the final of the Asian Youth Climbing Championship in Guiyang, 17-year-old Chinese athlete Zhao Yicheng crossed the finish line in 4,69 seconds and made a gesture of calling into the camera. This gesture was addressed to himself a year ago: then, on the same wall, he started before the signal and was left without gold.
The world record holder, who set a mark of 4,54 seconds in May, this time deliberately restrained his reaction at the start. Three consecutive runs he showed times better than 4,90 seconds, despite a minor mistake in the quarterfinals. The victory was not just a correction of last year's mistake, but a demonstration of how a young athlete learns to control his own impulse.
Zhao came to Guiyang not only for the title. In 18 days, a stage of the World Series will be held here, and training on a familiar wall is part of the preparation. Over the year, he has gone from painful self-reproach to a calmer attitude towards himself. "I judged myself too harshly after last year's defeat, and that made me vulnerable," he admitted after the final.
In speed climbing, where fractions of a second decide everything, excessive tension often leads to a false start or loss of balance. Zhao showed that true speed is born not from maximum tension, but from precise calculation and control. This resembles a chess player who, instead of immediately rushing into an attack, first strengthens his position and waits for the opponent's mistake.
For Chinese climbing, which has dominated in speed for several years, such an example is especially important. Young athletes see that even with a world record, psychological maturity becomes the decisive factor. Zhao is not just faster than everyone—he has learned not to rush where he used to hurry.
In a week and a half, he will start again on the same wall. And if the lesson of last year is fully learned, the next record may come not from a desperate dash, but from that very restraint that he demonstrated in Guiyang.
