With four of the six female competitors being under 18 and one being 18 years old the final featured the “next bouldering generation”. 17-year old Megan Mascarenas who participated in the invitational contest for the first time and won both, the qualification and the semi final round, lived up to her great performance by defeating Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) in a thrilling super final,claiming the the 2015 adidas ROCKSTAR title.
“At first attempt in the super final I thought I’d have to go fast, but then I realised that the boulder was rather hard so it was more about getting to the top rather than speed“, says Mascarenas. Despite her young age, the American has been climbing for 15 years, which explains her impressive strength and technique. „I’m sure seeing climbing with young eyes while having a lot of experience gives me a different point of view, which helped me a lot in the super- final: I got stuck close to the top and I didn’t know what to do so I decided to toe-hook the top. adidas ROCKSTARS was a lot different from what I expected; it’s a more positive environment and the whole atmosphere was fun from arriving at the hotel until now.“
Three-time overall World Cup champion Akiyo Noguchi who is eight years older than Megan agrees that the super final was really tough. “But I’m very happy that I was able to get here once again, I would really like to congratulate Megan on her win.“
Women:
1. Megan Mascarenas (USA)
2. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)