LEONARDO AND BARASHCHUK SHINE IN VILLARS, TAKE SPEED GOLD

Expectations were set high at the IFSC World Cup in Villars, Switzerland, where the men’s and women’s Speed finals quickly turned into a two-way fight between team Indonesia and team Russia, who, eventually, ended up splitting the prize and the glory.

Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo – the current men’s world record holder – prevailed over his Russian rival Dmitrii Timofeev, whose early slip in the race for the gold medal allowed Leonardo to claim his second consecutive Speed win, with the remarkable time of 5.32 seconds.

An anticipation of the clash between the two Speed superpowers happened in the small final, where Leonardo’s friend and teammate Kiromal Katibin prevailed over Timofeev’s compatriot Vladislav Deulin, pocketing the bronze medal with 5.30. Despite setting his own personal record – 5.38 seconds – Deulin finished just outside of the podium in fourth place.

The men’s Speed final full results are available here.

In the closing race of the night, reigning women’s Speed European Champion Ekaterina Barashchuk of Russia surprised the fastest climber in the world – Iuliia Kaplina, also representing the Russian Federation – hitting the finish pad at 7.30 seconds and winning the first World Cup gold of her career.

In the race for bronze, Patrycja Chudziak of Poland bested Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi of Indonesia, closing with 7.73 seconds, finally stepping on a World Cup podium, seven years after she placed third in Mokpo, South Korea, in October 2014.

The women’s Speed final full results are available here.

The IFSC Lead and Speed World Cup in Villars will conclude tomorrow: the men’s and women’s Lead semi-finals are scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM (UTC+2:00), while finals will start at 8:00 PM. Both rounds will be streamed live on the IFSC YouTube channel.

News and updates about all IFSC competitions will be available on the IFSC website and on its social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The podium of the men's Speed event at the IFSC World Cup in Villars
Photo: Lena Drapella/IFSC

The podium of the women's Speed event at the IFSC World Cup in Villars
Photo: Lena Drapella/IFSC