Results from 2022 Chamonix Lead and Speed World Cup

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The World Cup track swung through Chamonix, France, this weekend for a World Cup extravaganza that included Speed ​​and Lead disciplines.

Background by the great silhouette of the highest peak in the French Alps, Mont Blanc, the Chamonix World Cup added more interesting chapters to an ongoing 2022 season story already seen smashing several world recordsThe return of competitor widely regarded as The greatest of all timethe rise of Team China, and more shiny hardware for the American team.

Here’s what happened when the action kicked off …

He did it again – Yes, another world record for Katibin

Again, China rules in a hurry

The Speed ​​discipline started with figurative fireworks when Indonesia’s Kiromal Katibin broke his own world record in the men’s division by clocking a run of five seconds flat. The performance seemed to Katibin to be a good sign; however, a slight bump in the opening run of the final round led to a loss against teammate Alfian Muhammad Fajri and Katibin’s chances of winning a medal were ruined.

Muhammad Fajri continued to move through the finals’ tournament-style thinning brackets until he lost to another Indonesian teammate, Veddriq Leonardo. However, the Chinese team also rolled through the brackets, led by a series of victories over 21-year-old standout Jinbao Long. Long eventually beat Chinese teammates Jianguo Long and Leonardo of Indonesia to meet Spain’s Erik Noya Cardona in a race for the gold medal. Noya Cardona has so far experienced a peculiar tournament path – with his three previous opponents slipping during runs – but Jinbao Long has ensured a much cleaner race. Long and Noya Cardona remained relatively neck-and-neck against the wall until Long shot away in the top section of the trail to clock a time of 5.11 seconds and win gold; As a result, the silver medal was awarded to Noya Cardona, and Indonesia’s Aspar Aspar beat his compatriot Leonardo for the bronze.

Team China also had great moments in the Women’s Speed ​​Division, with victories in the initial rounds of the final round by Lijuan Deng and Guizhen Xie. On top of that, China’s Di Niu automatically advanced to the later brackets of the final round after her teammate and opponent, Yufang Xie, withdrew early in the round due to injury.

But while Xie and Niu eventually lost in races (against Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi and Poland’s Aleksandra Kalucka, respectively), Deng continued to race through the competition — especially by beating a trio of Indonesian breakers: Nurul Iqamah, then Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, and finally Rajiah Sallsabillah. This led to Deng finally racing with Poland’s Aleksandra Kalucka in the Grand Final match. In a razor-sharp race, Deng achieved a dazzling time of 6.55 seconds to secure the gold medal; Kalucka was awarded the silver. Rita Kusuma Dewi won in a Small Final race against Sallsabillah for the bronze.

That gold in Chamonix was the second in a row for Deng, as she also won last weekend’s World Cup in Villars. Furthermore, her winning time of 6.55 was only 0.02 seconds from the women’s world record (currently held by Poland’s Aleksandra Mirosław, who was not in Chamonix). This makes the potential match between 22-year-old Deng and 28-year-old Miroslaw one of the most anticipated matches of the modern speed climbing era in the women’s division. Similarly, excitement is already building for a potential race between Jinbao Long and Kiromal Katibin at some point on the road in the men’s division; the turbocharged pairing may be the key to getting someone to run under five seconds for the first time in history.

Ondra is back

Much of the hype in the men’s main division revolved around the Czech Republic’s Adam Ondra, who is returning to the World Cup circuit for the first time in more than a year. Ondra showed no signs of competition rust and rolled through the qualifying round at Chamonix by crossing both routes … but so did 10 other competitors, including Japan’s Taisei Homma, Slovenia’s Luca Potocar, and the United States’ Sean Bailey.

The abundance of tops continued into the semifinals, but a series of slanted shrinks on the head wall was a crutch that stunned a number of rivals (such as Japan’s Kokoro Fujii and Masahiro Higuchi). The semi-final also had a buzz-worthy moment when Germany’s Alex Megos was at the top of the route, but was later reduced to a much lower point of 13 after the judges determined he weighed a quick draw. Still, when the lap ended, it was once again Bailey, Ondra and Potocar at the top of the standings after being at the top of the trail.

Japan’s Homma climbed first in the final round and shot yellow and gray pinches through the route’s burst. Then, high on the head wall, he thrived for the top hold, but could not secure a grip. Still, Homma’s final score of 39+ was the highlight for much of the remaining round, as a string of finalists soon fell much lower against the wall: Britain’s Hamish McArthur (25+), Switzerland’s Sascha Lehmann (20+), Germany’s Yannick Flohé (29+), France’s Sam Avezou, and even Slovenia’s Potocar, to name a few.

Ondra climbed at a lightning pace – something the commentators noticed at various points – and immediately found that he started just like Homma to the best of his ability. Like Homma, Ondra could not secure a grip on it, but Ondra still took the lead based on countdown. Team USA’s Bailey, who climbed last, had a chance to point out Ondra, but could not find safe footprints as he jumped off for an oblique kick. Bailey finished with a score of 29+, enough for a bronze medal. Ondra – in his highly anticipated return to World Cup action – was crowned with the gold, with Homma earning the silver.

Garnbret continues her line

Starting in the qualifying round, the women’s division had its own abundance of tops, which eventually led to a general consensus among fans that the trails were largely submerged. Five women, for example, both made it to the qualifying rounds (including Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret and team USA’s Natalia Grossman and Brooke Raboutou).

The semi-finals separated the field somewhat, especially with a number of crutches on the trail’s crescent-shaped volumes and unforgiving shrinks. Garnbret was undoubtedly one of the standouts, advancing smoothly through one of those crutches — a left-handed hump on an oblique crescent at hold 24 — and finally the trail at the top. The route was also by Japan’s Natsuki Tanii, Italy’s Laura Rogora, and Team USA’s Grossman and Raboutou (although Raboutou’s score was later downgraded to 37 when she was deemed eliminated).

Garnbret Vulnerable, Battles Raboutou and Grossman. Results.

This all led to a star-studded final under a twilight of orange clouds and bright white spotlights. The abundance of peaks continued, beginning with a smooth ascent by Austria’s Jessica Pilz. Shortly afterwards, South Korea’s Chaehyun Seo and Italy’s Rogora were also able to ride through the required pull-and-push ranges on shrinks and jibs and reach the top. Raboutou and Grossman both climbed well in the final, but fell while launching for shrinks high on the head wall; they finished with identical scores of 43+. Garnbret made some spectators gasp as she fiddled with a clip halfway up the wall, but she recovered quickly, crossed through a section of prism-shaped volumes on the head wall and successfully drove to the summit. She was awarded the gold medal, with Rogora earning the silver and Seo the bronze.

Criticism of the abundance of peaks is valid; it’s always a shame if everyone was on a podium at the top of the trail and previous standings (or, in some cases, time) should be the deciding factors. But that should not cloud all the amazing takeaways from the main sections of Chamonix: Powerhouse national teams like Team USA and Team Japan have added to their medal collections, Adam Ondra has largely returned, and Janja Garnbret has her third major gold medal in a row . This creates a lot of buzz for the next World Cup, which takes place on July 22-23 in Briançon.

Lead

Men

1. Adam Ondra (TSJE)
2. Taisei Homma (JPN)
3. Sean Bailey (USA)
4. Port of Potocar (SLO)
5. Yannick Flohé (GER)
6. Sam Avezou (FRA)
7. Hamish McArthur (GBR)
8. Sascha Lehmann (SUI)
9. Satone Yoshida (JPN)

Women

1. Janja Garnbret (SLO)
2. Laura Rogora (ITA)
3. Chaehyun Seo (KOR)
4. Jessica Pilz (AUT)
5. Natsuki Tanii (JPN)
6. Natalia Grossman (USA)
7. Brooke Raboutou (USA)
8. Mia Krampl (SLO)

Speed

Men

1. Jinbao Long (CHN)
2. Erik Noya Cardona (ESP)
3. Aspar Aspar (INA)

Women

1. Lijuan Deng (CHN)
2. Aleksandra Kalucka (POL)
3. Insisted on Rita Kusuma Dewi (INA)