Chamonix

Dedicated fans huddled under umbrellas and donned rain gear in Chamonix for the first stop of the Lead World Cup series and third Speed World Cup of 2016. Despite the inclement mountain weather, elite athletes of the IFSC still put on an exciting show.

Dozens of elite Lead climberswill travel to Chamonix, France, on July 11th-12th for the start of the 2016 Lead World Cup series.The best Speed athletes in the world will join them forthe third Speed World Cup of the season.

The Bouldering World Cup in Vail has ended and the Speed and Lead World Cup in Chamonix does not begin until July 11. In the meantime, our team remains hard at work. Since the 11th Plenary Assembly of the IFSC in February, multiple projects have been initiated or finalized.

Each bid city propose 2 media centers for the 2018 Winter Olympics. In this installment of By the Book, Around the Rings presents a look at the anti-doping plans of Annecy, Munich and PyeongChang. By the Book is an exclusive series of reports by Around the Rings based on the bid books presented by the three 2018 bids.

All three bid cities propose two Olympic Villages for the 2018 Winter Olympics. In this installment of By the Book, Around the Rings presents a look at the Olympic Village plans of Annecy, Munich and PyeongChang. By the Book is an exclusive series of reports by Around the Rings based on the bid books presented by the three 2018 bids.

(ATR) Despite a few IOC concerns, Annecy CEO Charles Beigbeder tells Around the Rings he's "quite happy" the 2018 Evaluation Commission has recognized the bid's "enormous progress" in recent months.

(ATR) Around the Rings was on the scene in Annecy for the IOC Evaluation Commission's visit to the 2018 Winter Olympic bid city. More from ATR Editor Ed Hula and European Editor Mark Bisson in this Olympic Photodesk.