Speed qualification for the men confirm the final 16 to vie for a podium place
With the women crowning their Speed world champion last night in Seoul, with a new world record in the process, it was turn of the men to start their pursuit for a World Championships podium.
The USA team led the way with two of their climbers occupying the top positions – Zach Hammer was first with a time of 4.80s and Sam Watson was second with 4.87s. They will also be joined by teammate Michael Hom in the finals.
Ukraine’s Yaroslav Tkach broke the European record before coming to Seoul, and he will contest the finals from fourth position. He is also joined by a teammate in Ilchyshyn Hryhorii.
Tkach took the record from current world champion Matteo Zurloni who is starting to feel like the person who won that title in Bern in 2023: “I’m feeling good. I like the wall, and I like the place, it reminds me of Bern. I’m happy because it probably only the first or second event this year where my body and mind are on the same level and I can do what I want.
“I don’t know if it was because of the Olympics last year or what but it was difficult for me to maintain my focus and a good mentally to go and trust myself. I think I am finding myself again. I’m confident now and I am going to trust my training and go tonight.”
With Aleksandra Miroslaw breaking the world record for the women last night, new personal bests from qualification and a host of continental record holders including Watson who holds the world record in finals, Zurloni thinks there could be a new world’s best time thanks to a good wall.
“Sometimes the wall is slippy, sometimes it’s the atmosphere and you can’t do anything about that, but for speed climbing it sucks as you have to change your route a little to not fall and you can’t go all out, and that’s all we want to do. So, I’m happy that in this important competition we have this crazy good wall.”
The men are becoming more consistent when it comes to sub-5 times, and the top six all have that time under their belts already. With podiums and medals on the line, we could see some even quicker times come finals time.
The cut off time for the finals was taken by Japan’s Fujino Shuto with a 5.07s and 16th position. He is joined by a host of Asian climbers with a strong Chinese team contributing four including Olympic medallist Wu Peng.
Full men's Speed qualification results can be found here
News and updates about the event will be available on the IFSC website and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
