LEONARDO TAKES SECOND GOLD OF HIS SEASON, MIROSLAW CAN’T BE BEATEN
The highly anticipated men’s and women’s Speed finals of the International Federation of Sport climbing (IFSC) World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, lived up to the expectations.
Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia secured the second World Cup gold medal of the 2022 season, winning the gold medal race against Tobias Plangger of Austria, who fell halfway through the route and allowed Leonardo to finish with an easy 6.33.
After placing fourth at the two previous Speed World Cup events, 2019 world champion Ludovico Fossali of Italy finally won the first medal of his season, prevailing over Marcin Dzienski of Poland in the bronze medal race: 5.49 against 5.56.
In the women’s event, the Polish team took three of the top four positions: Tokyo 2020 Olympian Aleksandra Miroslaw once again proved to be unbeatable, winning the third consecutive gold of her season with the extraordinary time of 6.54.
Home favourite Emma Hunt of the United States of America placed second, falling in the race for gold. Aleksandra Kalucka, also of Poland, bested her twin sister Natalia in the race for the third place, securing the bronze medal with 7.96 seconds.
Earlier today, in the qualification rounds, Leonardo’s teammate Kiromal Katibin set a new men’s Speed world record with 5.10 seconds; while Miroslaw bested her own world record and set the mark at 6.53.
“I felt great today,” said Leonardo after the medal ceremony. “To pair this gold medal with the world record set by my teammate is awesome. We made history once again!”
“Luckily for me, the feeling to have a world record set in qualification in not new, as I did the same in Seoul,” commented Miroslaw. “I simply focus on my precision, and try not to make mistakes, and it works!”
The IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City will continue tomorrow: women’s Boulder qualification will start at 9:00 AM (UTC-6:00), and the men’s Boulder qualification beginning at 3:30 PM.
For information about broadcasting and live streaming of the IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City click here. News and updates about the event will also be available on the IFSC website, and on the Federation’s social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
The podium of the men's Speed event at the IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Photo: Daniel Gajda/IFSC
The podium of the women's Speed event in at the IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Photo: Daniel Gajda/IFSC
