Who Is Jakob Schubert? – Austria’s Best Could Take Tokyo Gold

Who Is Jakob Schubert?

Jakob Schubert is one of the best competition climbers in the world and is representing Austria at the Olympics. With his stunning track record and consistent results he is one of the top picks to win Gold at Tokyo in 2021. Between the World Cup and Championships he has a full ten Gold medals!

Lead climbing is where he excels – not just on plastic and plywood but outdoors too. He is one of just six people to have climbed 9b+ Sport Climb and has many hard sends under his belt. Jakob’s nickname is “Joggl” (pronounced “yog”), which is how people from the Tyrol region use the name Jakob.

Jakob Schubert is sponsored by La Sportiva, Mammut, Raiffeisen bank, Subrau, gloryfy, theCrag.com, sporthilfe, and the Sports team of the Austrian army.

When Did Jakob Schubert Start Climbing?

Jakob Schubert started climbing when he was 12 years old. He was introduced by his Godfather who took him to the climbing gym in Innsbruck that is also used as the national training center for the Austrian team and others.

As it was the National center a coach from the team saw Jakob climbing and suggested he try training with the Youth team. He tried it once and says he “had so much fun that I never stopped“.

The gym is creatively named Kletterzentrum Innsbruck and has not just a world class indoor facility but also a huge outdoors climbing area. It’s large enough to hold competitions on either side of the building sized wall or the purpose built competition Bouldering wall.

Is Jakob Schubert In The Olympics?

Yes, Jakob qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics by placing 2nd in the qualifiers of the IFSC Combined World Championships in 2019. He also got 2nd in the finals, just under Tomoa Narasaki. At the same event Jakob’s Austrian teammate Jessica Pilz gained her invite by getting 10th in qualifications.

Will Jakob Schubert Win The Olympics?

Schubert is one of our top picks to take Gold at the 2021 Olympics and for one big reason – he is great at performing under pressure. With over 15 years of competition he is more consistent than any other climber. Competitions are Jakob’s bread and butter. His experience and calm-headed climbing style will no doubt pay off.

In Climbing World Cup events he is on the podium more than anyone else and when it comes down to close, tense finals he never seems worried. Given the huge amount of pressure some athletes will just not be able to perform at 100%. Even Tokyo locals like Akiyo Noguchi and Tomoa Narasaki that may have a hometown advantage must be feeling the immense pressure to take Gold for Climbing’s first time at the Olympics.

We predict Jakob will take top 3 in Lead – if not 1st. He isn’t as good at Bouldering as others but should still place in the top 8. Speed will be his biggest issue as he isn’t a specialist but has had time to prepare and train. If Jakob takes 1st in Lead he’s almost guaranteed a medal. Definitely one to watch.

Jakob Schubert Training Program, Diet + Nutrition

Jakob trains pretty regularly, doing round 20 hours a week but ramping it up in the month before a big competition. For such a strong Lead climber he actually spends a lot of time Bouldering for his training.

He has said he doesn’t have a diet plan but just tries to eat healthily. Campus board work is a key part of his training plan, along with other wooden-hold based work on his new freestanding Tension board, plus a good old Beastmaker hangboard.

Jakob Schubert Competition Results

In Climbing World Cups and World Championships Jakob has a staggering twenty three medals, ten of which are Gold. He is most successful in Lead Climbing but has done decently in Bouldering and Speed over the years, leading to him getting quite a few Combined medals.

As a result of this overall skill Jakob is the person with the most World Cup Combined wins with four, beating out Adam Ondra with three. In World Championships Schubert only has one and is tied with Tomoa Narasaki. Canadian Sean McColl has three. These four climbers are all tipped for Olympic Gold.

Jakob Schubert Lead Climbing

Jakob is probably the best Lead climber in modern competition climbing and in Golds at World Cup and Championships is tied with Adam Ondra. As an onlooker it seems like he just never lets go. However, he is a master at figuring out the most straightforward way up a route without wasting any energy.

In the Climbing World Cup Jakob has taken 18 Gold medals at separate events with a total of three Gold’s overall for the seasons 2011, 2014, and 2018. For a while he just never finished off of the top three and his consistency was legendary.

Even as a Youth competitor he won three Climbing World Championships in a row in his category in Lead. Since 2010 his only placing outside of the top three was sixth in 2017.

Jakob Schubert Bouldering

In Bouldering Jakob is less powerful than others and is more suited to the endurance that Lead brings. Even then he’s still a great boulderer and took Bronze and Silver in The World Cup in 2012 and 2013, plus Silver at the 2019 World Champs. If he gets onto routes that suit him – small crimps and big reaches – he will do well.

Unfortunately for him the modern style of bouldering is more about co-ordination, flexibility, and being able to adapt and learn at a really fast pace. The Japanese team tend to be great at this and it’s likely Tomoa Narasaki will take the top spot for Bouldering.

Jakob Schubert Speed Climbing

Unsurprisingly someone more suited to endurance isn’t the best at the sprint-like nature of Speed Climbing. Innsbruck climbing centre does have a good Speed training facility so it’s possible he’s got his times down. If he can finish in the top six or seven at the Olympics he’ll have a much better shot at Gold.

Jakob Schubert Outdoor Climbing

Jakob is a very accomplished outdoor climber and boulderer as well as a competitor. He has sent as hard as 9b+ / 5.15b with “Perfecto Mundo“, making him one of just six people to have climbed a 9b+ route or harder.

He also has some stunning Boulders to his name including three 8C problems and two 8B+ flashes – which is insane. He’s also flashed three 8c+ sports routes and onsighted three 8c’s.

Jakob Schubert Perfecto Mundo

In 2019 Jakob climbed “Perfecto Mundo“, a 9b+ / 5.15b sport climb that was at the time one of only four 9b+ routes in the world. He made the third ascent after Alex Megos and Stefano Ghisolfi. He is now one of just six people to have ever climbed 9b+ or higher.

Jakob Schubert Bibliographie

After Alex Megos climbed the second 9c in the world “Bibliographie“ last summer, the climbing world was amazed. It was possibly the hardest line in the world and it was right in the middle of Ceuse, which is one of France (and the world’s) most famous and most accessible hard crags.

Jakob Schubert went to try it out just a month or so after Megos had completed it. He reports that he made all of the individual hard moves but not the links. The route is not only incredibly hard but also a huge slog to get through. Based on Schubert’s endurance we might see him come back to try it again after Tokyo!

Stefano Ghislofi had also been trying the route and Adam Ondra is the most obvious person to want to give it a go too. We might see a queue of pro’s trying the moves and sharing beta on the project!

What Climbing Shoes Does Jakob Schubert Wear?

Schubert wear’s the pro climbers favorite shoes – the modern classic La Sportiva Solutions. He uses them for almost everything indoors and out. They’re advanced shoes that are downturned with all of the power of the foot pushed into the big toe. For Speed he uses the La Sportiva Cobras.

Jakob Schubert Injury

Recently in 2019 Jakob Schubert had a small bicep tear in right arm. It came after trying the 9c “Bibliographie” route. He ended up ducking out of a few competitions because of it but seems to have fully recovered from it. Back in 2014 he got a finger injury but that’s also fully healed. For a constant comp climber he does really well at managing his health and hasn’t had any recurring issues.

Jakob Schubert’s Sister – Hannah Schubert

Jakob has a younger sister Hannah who is also a pro climber that competes in IFSC competitions. She won the IFSC World Youth Championship in Lead Youth A in 2014. She’s also competed in a lot of World Cup and Championships since and most recently at Innsbruck.

You can check out her Instagram or her IFSC results. She’s also sponsored by La Sportiva and Mammut.

Jakob Schubert YouTube

Jakob Schubert has his own YouTube channel that’s been around for years now. Until recently there were only very sporadic updates but he’s started putting out more regular videos in the lead up to the Olympics. Check it out here.

Jakob Schubert Instagram + Social Media

Jakob has a popular Instagram page with over 100k followers, as well as a twitter and his own website.

Header image courtesy of Simon Legner on Wikimedia