Jessica Pilz misses the World Cup in Innsbruck – living her Olympic dreams in 2028!

Jessica Pilz misses the World Cup in Innsbruck – living her Olympic dreams in 2028!

Jessica Pilz announced on June 11, 2025 that she would not take part in the Climbing World Cup in Innsbruck. This move follows a two-month break from training, which is the longest of her career. The decision about the event in Innsbruck depends primarily on her convalescent finger, which greatly reduces the likelihood of starting. Despite these challenges, Pilz plans to prepare for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She expressed relief that her injury did not occur in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won the bronze medal.

The coming months will be challenging for the athlete as she wants to get back to full fitness. However, Pilz is confident she will qualify for the 2028 Olympics. Another prominent athlete, Jakob Schubert, the bronze medalist in Tokyo, is currently expressing skepticism about his sporting future. He has said he will make decisions about his participation in the Olympics in the summer because staying healthy is important to him. According to the information from tirol.orf.at, the World Cup in Innsbruck is expected to take place without Schubert, but further details about his reasons remain unclear.

The climbing world cup in Innsbruck

The Climbing World Cup in Innsbruck is highlighted as particularly important. Heiko Wilhelm, sports director of the Austrian Climbing Association, describes the event as a place of respect and sporting challenge. Ticket sales are going well and there are only remaining tickets available. Athletes like Jasmin Plank, Mattea Pötzi and Jan-Luca Posch speak positively about the World Cup. Pötzi even describes the event as an unofficial world championship, while Posch emphasizes that he is fit and ready for the start.

2028 Olympic Games and the role of climbing

Climbing will also play a central role at the upcoming Olympic Games in Los Angeles. At the last meeting of the IOC Executive Committee, sport climbing, along with surfing and skateboarding, was proposed for the US Olympics. The application has already been positively assessed by the organizers. According to information from kletterszene.com, the decision at the IOC session during the Olympic Games in Beijing should be considered a formality. IFSC President Marco Scolaris expressed gratitude to the IOC and is optimistic about the adoption of the proposal.

Climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo 2021 with the combined format (lead, bouldering, speed), and the new medal award formats for Paris 2024 have already been determined. For Los Angeles, the exact rules and medal awarding for all three disciplines are still up for discussion. Schubert sees the inclusion of climbing in the Olympic Games as an important opportunity to promote the sport of climbing and especially young talent.