The first finals session of the Climbing programme at The World Games Chengdu 2025 saw China claim five of the six Speed medals on offer, with Chu Shouhong taking men’s gold and Deng Lijuan leading a clean sweep in the women’s event.

CHU LOWERS PB TWICE ON WAY TO MEN’S GOLD

Chu Shouhong of China delivered the fastest race of his career to win the men’s Speed gold medal, defeating Samuel Watson of the USA in the final. Chu clocked 4.80 seconds, lowering his previous personal best of 4.90 twice during the night — first with 4.83 in his quarter-final against top-seeded Raharjati Nursamsa of Indonesia, and then again in the gold medal race.

Watson, who had battled through the rounds despite a shoulder injury, posted 4.96 for silver. Long Jianguo of China took bronze in 4.83, defeating Ludovico Fossali of Italy, who slipped and finished in 6.33. Chu, Watson, and Long were the only athletes to break the 4.90 barrier in the finals.

“I’m very happy to have won this gold medal. I would also like to express my gratitude to my opponent, Sam Watson, it was him that pushed me to the limit and to give my best. I hope our team can have other satisfying results in the next two days and win more golds,” said Chu following the award ceremony.

For the men’s Speed complete results click here.

CHINA SWEEPS WOMEN’S PODIUM

The women’s Speed final delivered both a sweep for the host nation and the closest race of the night. Paris 2024 silver medallist Deng Lijuan took gold by just one hundredth of a second over teammate Qin Yumei, with times of 6.40 and 6.41 respectively.

The bronze medal race produced the fastest times of the women’s final: Zhou Yafei of China edged out reigning world champion Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi of Indonesia, 6.31 to 6.34, with both athletes breaking the 6.40 mark.

Deng commented: “It was very nice to see the three Chinese flags on the podium and to hear the anthem played twice. I would like to thank my team for their support and help, it was great to take all three medals as a team, I wish we can get more in the next two days.”

For the women’s Speed complete results click here.

NEXT UP

Day 2 in the Climbing programme at The World Games will feature the debut of the Speed 4 format, with both men’s and women’s events taking place on the four-lane wall in Tianfu Park Qualifications are set to beging at 9:30 (UTC+8:00), while finals are kicking off at 18:00.

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.