He is the pinnacle of winning the Israeli bouldering championship • At the peak of his career he was completely alone • Most of us know him only thanks to "Ninja Israel" • And he recommends you "use sports to channel anger to the right place" • Interview with Alex Haznov

• Haznov in action

  Photo: 

  Danny Maron

May 2018: Alex Haznov informs his parents that he is entering a World Cup climbing competition held in China, and that if he fails to achieve an exceptional result, he will retire and start studying at university. Victor and Natalia, natives of the USSR who pushed their youngest son to do sports from an early age, supported the decision, as for them higher education is a supreme value, even more so than sports. 

Haznov, then 23 years old, entered the competition and it was there, when he was alone, that he finished in first place and waved the Israeli flag. "This is the highlight of my career so far," he tells Israel Today, "this is a highly regarded competition, because there is no limit to participants and there are many climbers who are at the top of the industry. It was a dream. I flew alone, without a coach, without teammates, "And I won gold. I had no one to hug, I sat in the room with myself and did not digest what was happening."  

Three months later came another significant moment - the program "Ninja Israel" aired, gave a huge boost to the climbing industry, which a year earlier was recognized as an Olympic industry, and turned Haznov, who finished in second place, into the face of the climbing field. 

"Beyond my personal exposure, the program did a lot," Haznov recalled, "a hundred times the entrance to the Olympics. Enough to see the basic figure of the number of children who started climbing in its wake - it's amazing." 

In addition to the exposure, how did the program promote you personally? 

"She gave me a very good opportunity to convey a positive message to those who admire me - whether it was young children or beginner climbers - and that's what I tried to do during and after the program. It allowed me to evolve, deliver lectures on my career, which started with quite a few crises until I found the strength. The mental is to move up in the world rankings and reach results. "

And on the other hand, what is the price of exposure? What is it like to turn from an anonymous guy into one who is recognized on the street? 

"It puts a lot of responsibility on me. I always have to do the right thing, and of course it also raised the bar of expectations. If I tell people I'm ranked 25th in the world today, they might think it's disappointing. It makes me a little restless, but in the end I "I'll redirect it to a good place. I will not miss the exposure if it disappears, because life before the show was fine."  

The Tokyo Olympics will be the first where climbing will be part of the competitions. So far 14 out of 20 climbers have secured their place in the Games, and last March a European Championship was scheduled to take place, designed to set the desired criterion. Following the corona the competition was postponed, and then came the postponement of the Olympics as well. 

"Aiming for Paris 2024"

For Haznov, who describes his chances of getting to Tokyo as "not bad at all," it was a severe blow. "After winning the World Cup I suffered a hamstring muscle tear and it took me a while to get back from it physically and mentally," he explains, "I didn't work for a few months and built the whole schedule to get to the competition in the best shape possible. Now we do not know if the Olympics will take place at all or when the European Championships will take place. There is no horizon, and many times I ask myself 'why am I training?' "

Last week, Haznov won the Israeli bouldering championship for the fifth time in his career and became the pinnacle of wins - a significant achievement, but not one that gives him points in the battle for a place in the Olympics. To get through the difficult period, Haznov enlisted the help of the Olympic Committee and, of course, Ayelet, a body that supports all non-Olympic disciplines and those who make the transition to the Olympics, which has been going hand in hand for many years.

"The very fact that you know there is a place to support you, regardless of your achievements, gives you great confidence," explains the climber, "last year was not relatively good for me, and I still get a scholarship. It is not obvious, it is very significant and gives a lot of strength to continue ". 

What are the aspirations for the future?

"The average age at which to typically retire is 30, so I'm aiming for Paris 2024, so I'll be 29, and from there we'll see. I want to be connected to the industry, so I'm an artist and I'll probably want to get into business. Maybe I'll open a climbing wall or a company related to the field .

After presenting his personal plans Haznov seeks to convey a message: "We are in a strange time. There are a lot of conflicts and a feeling of hatred in society, and I want to recommend people to use sports to channel their anger - anger that I agree is justified - to the right place. An hour a day of sports instead of sitting In front of a screen, reading talkbacks and watching news will benefit us all much more. "