Alexey Rubstov

Alexey Rubstov is probably the best-known and best Russian competitive climber and the only Russian who has qualified for Tokyo 2021. This boulderer is going to the Olympic Games as a member of a three-person climbing team together with his compatriots Iulia Kaplin and Victoria Meshková.

Career

Alexey Rubstov started climbing, by professional standards, very late, at the age of seventeen. His first competitions were the Russian Championships in 2006 and 2007. His first internationals were two rounds of the World Bouldering Championships in 2008. He burst into the spotlight a year after his international debut. In 2009 (3 years after he started climbing) Alexey participated in the international bouldering championship. He was definitely not the favorite for the championship and had to compete with the elites of the time like him Jan Hojer and Sean McCall (also participated Magnus Midtbo). Despite this, he managed to place himself in first place and thus win his first and only international gold.

To some extent, Alexey is already beginning to move away from professional competition climbing and his departure is probably imminent. As Akiyo Noguchi Alexey Rubstov probably has his first and last Olympic Games ahead of him. But this climber has a plan for the future. He is the owner and manager of a climbing gym in Moscow called "Tokyo".

Alexey Rubstov and Tokyo 2021

Alexey Rubstov is an excellent boulderer, but he is not the leading favorite for gold. He qualified for the Games from the 2020 European Championships, where he scored a total of 20 points. In Tokyo, he will be up against the best of the best, and Alexey can only realistically compete with them in bouldering. In the last pre-pandemic tables, he was ranked as the seventh best boulderer in the world. That certainly gives him hope. However, it must be taken into account that he is now three years older and still struggling with a shoulder injury. So the question is: how will he deal with young newcomers like Kai Harada or seasoned and combined better climbers like for example Alex Megos.

Apart from bouldering, Alexey Rubstov doesn't have much hope. He is ranked 49th in the world in difficulty climbing and his best speed score is 22nd at the European Championships 2020. So it is very unlikely that Alexey will appear in the top five in speed and practically impossible for him to happen in climbing difficulty.
So what are Rubstov's goals? To put it bluntly, not to be beaten by many newbies and to place well in bouldering. The worst that could happen to him is to be defeated in his own discipline by younger climbers who do not specialize in bouldering (such as Duffy whose Lopez). Chances of defeat Schubert, Narasaki or Ondra however, they are very scarce.

World Cup 2017	Bouldering	Bronze
World Cup 2016	Bouldering	Bronze

IFSC Bouldering Championship 2009			Gold
IFSC European Championship 2020			Gold

Social networks:

• Instagram
• Facebook