New Speed World Record by Gold Medalist YiLing Song
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Early this morning, April 26, the first of the two World Cups in China began. Conditions were hot and humid, but that didn’t stop athletes from putting up impressive times in the speed competition. There were over 150 competitors, include nine athletes from the U.S. Kyra Condie and John Brosler recorded the best times for Team USA, each finishing 28th.
Chongqing marked the second stop on the Speed World Cup tour. Last week, in the first Speed World Cup in Moscow, YiLing Song, from China, and Bassa Mawem, from France, proved their fitness for the season by claiming gold. Notably, Song was just six hundredths of a second away from the women’s speed record.
This week, in the ¼ round, Song shattered the world record with a time of 7.101, over two tenths of a second faster than the previous record. Last year’s overall speed winner Anouck Jaubert, from France, shared the previous women’s record with Luliia Kaplina, from Russia. Both women made it to the ½ final, where Song had another impressive time of 7.110. Jaubert and Kaplina faced each other in the small final, where Jaubert fell and Kaplina secured bronze. Song and Aleksandra Rudzinska, from Poland, battled each other for the gold. Rudzinska fell and Song earned her second gold medal of the season.
In an upset on the men’s side, last year’s overall winner, Mawem, didn’t make it past the 1/8 round, nor did last year’s overall second place speed climber Dmitrii Timofeev. Vladislav Deulin, who placed second several weeks ago in Moscow, also failed to move past the 1/8 round. World Champions Reza Alipourshena, from Iran, and QiXin Zhong, from China, went head to head in the ¼ round, with Zhong moving onto the ½ final. Zhong fell in his match against Sergey Rukin, from Russia, who took bronze. Kostiantyn Pavlenko, from Ukraine, and the third place finisher in Moscow, Alfian Muhammad, contended for first. Muhammad earned Indonesia’s first gold for the season with a time of 5.970.
Full results can be found below or on IFSC.
Tomorrow morning, the third Bouldering World Cup of the season will begin. Eyes will be on Janja Garnbret, from Slovenia, who will be gunning for her third gold medal of the season. Adam Ondra, from the Czech Republic, placed first and second in Meiringen and Moscow, respectively, and will be shooting for another gold as well. Live streaming will be on April 28 for the semi-final and final rounds.
Results
