Introduction

Michael Piccolruaz (ITA) Age: 25

Originating from the South Tyrol region of Italy, Piccolruaz came from a family of climbers and began his competition career way back in 2009. Interestingly, he started out competing in Lead and Speed, but is now best known for his bouldering. His first big wins came in Boulder too, when he picked up a pair of European Youth Cup victories in 2013.

Over the past six years he’s become a regular Boulder World Cup semi-finalist, occasional finalist and one-time medallist (he was 2nd in Kazo 2016). Surprisingly, he’s not made a final since that magical day in Kazo, but he’s capable of making Lead and Boulder semis, and his Speed is pretty good too. He trains alongside Jakob Schubert as well, so he’s keeping good company with the Olympics approaching!

Qualification route

Tripartite Commission Place - Hachioji

There was much discussion about how the IFSC’s Tripartite Commission slots would be handed out, but in the end they simply went to the highest-ranked eligible climber from the IFSC 2019 World Championships, which was Piccolruaz and Anouck Jaubert (FRA).

Trivia

Although Italian, Piccolruaz grew up in the German speaking part of the country and has long been a resident of Innsbruck, Austria.

UKC prediction

Piccolruaz has the talent to make the final but possibly not the consistency. We predict a mid-table finish, outside the final.