HIGHAMS' HIGHLIGHTS: IFSC WORLD CUP SEOUL 2023

Throughout the 2023 season the IFSC will bring some interesting facts and figures ahead of our events, in association with statistician Paul Higham. The next set of stats is for the upcoming World Cup event in Seoul, South Korea, from 28 to 30 April 2023 at the Jungnang Sport Climbing Stadium at Yongma Waterfall Park.

HIGHLIGHTS
 
IFSC World Cup Seoul 2023 will the 384th Senior World Cup event and the sixth World Cup competition in South Korea. The World Cup was first hosted in Chuncheon in 2010, then three consecutive editions in Mokpo between 2012 and 2014, and in Seoul last year.

The IFSC World Cup Seoul 2023 will be the 144th Boulder competition, and the 129th Speed competition.

NUMBERS

A total of 287 athletes are registered for the event:

• 79 in women’s Boulder;
• 90 in men’s Boulder;
• 50 in women’s Speed; and
• 72 in men’s Speed.

There will be three men competing in both Boulder and Speed: Chan Cheung-chi Shoji of Hong Kong, China; Ardch Intrachupongse of Thailand; and Lin Chia Hsiang of Chinese Taipei. One woman will compete in both Boulder and Speed: South Korea’s Yun Dasom (KOR).

ATHLETES' STATS

Boulder competitors:

• Jernej Kruder (SLO): will tie the men’s record of attending 83 Boulder World Cup competitions, tying with Killian Fischhuber (AUT);
• Jan Hojer (GER): ties the German record belonging to Jonas Baumann of attending 58 Boulder World Cup competitions;
• Alannah Yip (CAN): will make her 31st World Cup appearance, extending the record for female Canadian participation;
• Alex Khazanov (ISR): will make his 42nd World Cup appearance, extending his record for Israeli participation.

DEBUTS

The following climbers will make their career debut on the IFSC World Cup circuit:

Women’s Boulder:

• Iris Heikkinen (FIN);
• Eugenie Lee (GBR);
• Kim Chaeyeong (KOR); and
• Natalie Goh Sihui (SGP).

Men’s Boulder:

• Song Yunchan (KOR).

Women’s Speed:

• Yang Mi (CHN);
• Zhang Shaoqin (CHN);
• Zhou Yaifei (CHN);
• Mu Yuju (CHN);
• Abigail Ruano (ECU);
• Shivpreet Pannu (IND);
• Anna Balarshina (KAZ); and
• Yung Ye Jin (KOR).

Men’s Speed:

• Adrien Levesque (CAN);
• Wang Xinshang (CHN);
• Tabuchi Motonori (JPN);
• Zandos Kalibay (KAZ);
• Damir Toktarov (KAZ);
• Kim Dong Jun Kim (KOR); and
• Choi Jongbin (KOR).

IFSC WORLD CUP PODIUMS IN SEOUL

Women's Boulder podium:

IFSC World Cup Seoul 2022:
G – Natalia Grossman (USA), S – Oriane Bertone (FRA), B – Brooke Raboutou (USA)

Men's Boulder podium:

IFSC World Cup Seoul 2022:
G – Kokoro Fujii (JPN), S – Tomoa Narasaki, (JPN) B – Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN)

Women's Speed podium:

IFSC World Cup Seoul 2022:
G – Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL), S – Emma Hunt (USA), B – Aleksandra Kalucka (POL)

Men's Speed podium:

IFSC World Cup Seoul 2022:
G – Veddriq Leonardo (INA), S – Kiromal Katibin (INA), B – Mulyono Rahmad Adi (INA)

Sport Climbing stat master Paul Higham will be highlighting his top facts and figures throughout the 2023 season for the IFSC. Brit Higham, based in Chamonix, France, is a climbing superfan with a special talent for picking some stand-out stats for the IFSC event calendar.

Seo Chaehyun of South Korea competes at the IFS World Cup Seoul 2022
Photo: Dimitris Tosidis/IFSC