Adam Ondra and Chaehyun Seo win Lead World Cup 2019

"A dream season." These were the words Adam Ondra chose to describe his 2019 competitions yesterday from Xiamen in China, where the 26-year-old from the Czech Republic won the penultimate stage of the Lead World Cup and, in doing so, also claimed the 2019 Lead World Cup season title. His is indeed a dream season: in addition to the three World Cup stage victories, in August Ondra became Lead World Champion while last week he was crowned European Lead Champion. The only drawback in this stellar 2019 was his failure to qualify at the first opportunity for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Toulouse - the next opportunity at the end of November - will prove crucial.

Ondra won in Xiamen by easing to the top, beating the two Japanese Taisei Homma and Tomoa Narasaki who, like Ondra, both topped out on the final route and both fell off the same hold as Ondra did in the Semis. Countback to the qualifiers split the trio. Young Kai Harada, clearly the best after the semis and therefore the last out of isolation,fell while dynoing for the last hold thereby proving that the route wasn’t perhaps quite as easy as many had expected, while young Spanish revelation Alberto Ginés López finished fifth, ahead of Meichi Narasaki, the fourth Japanese athlete in the final, and the two Americans Jess Grupper and Sean Bailey.

2019 is also a dream season for Chaehyun Seo and, making the most of her debut Senior World Cup, she placed second in Villars and from then on proved unbeatable in Chamonix, Briançon, Kranj and now in Xiamen. Just like Ondra, the 15-year-old has clinched the overall 2019 title one competition ahead of schedule.

Seo powered her way comfortably to the top hold as did "veterans" Akiyo Noguchi and Jain Kim who, twice her age, banked on their amazing class and vast experience: Noguchi boasts 21 stage victories in the Bouldering World Cup, while Kim a staggering 29 in the Lead World Cup. Yesterday however was to be Seo’s evening, and she won thanks to countback to the semis, while Noguchi and Kim, perfectly matched after all four routes, were split on time: Noguchi reached the top with more than 50 seconds to spare, while Kim clipped the chain with just 4 seconds remaining. All three topped out by moving statically to the final hold, while all those who opted for the double-dyno failed to stick the last sloper. This explains Janja Garnbret’s fourth place (absolutely regal up to that point), Natsuki Tanii’s fifth and Lucka Rakovec’s sixth. YueTong Zhang placed seventh, Ievegeniia Kazbekova eighth and Ai Mora ninth.

Xiamen also hosted the last leg of the Speed World Cup, won by QiXin Zhong who beat Lev Rudatskiy, and by Aries Susanti Rahayu who beat YiLing Song. Song was more than happy though with her silver medal as this secured overall victory in the 2019 Speed World Cup, while France’s Bassa Mawem won the men’s season title for the second time in a row. It’s worth pointing out that in her final run for gold, Indonesia’s Rahayu stopped the clock after 6.99 seconds, setting a new world record and becoming the first woman in the history of the sport to score a time under 7 seconds.

Xiamen - Lead World Cup 2019
Female
1 Chaehyun Seo KOR Top
2 Akiyo Noguchi JPN Top
3 Jain Kim KOR Top
4 Janja Garnbret SLO 37+
5 Natsuki Tanii JPN 37+
6 Lucka Rakovec SLO 37+
7 YueTong Zhang CHN 34+
8 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 31+
9 Ai Mori JPN 10+
10 Julia Fiser AUT
10 Natsumi Hirano JPN
10 Lan Kim KOR
10 Laura Rogora ITA
10 Salomé Romain FRA
10 Christine Schranz AUT
10 Aika Tajima JPN
10 Molly Thompson-Smith GBR
18 Yuki Hiroshige JPN
19 Elnaz Rekabi IRI
20 Julia Chanourdie FRA
20 Margo Hayes USA
22 Heloïse Doumont BEL
23 Elena Krasovskaya RUS
24 Mia Krampl SLO
25 Ashima Shiraishi USA
26 Mei Kotake JPN
27 Nika Potapova UKR
28 Sandra Lettner AUT
29 Fanny Gibert FRA
30 Tina Johnsen Hafsaas NOR
31 Viktoriia Meshkova RUS
32 Alannah Yip CAN
33 Emily Phillips GBR
34 Sol Sa KOR
35 Hung Ying Lee TPE
36 Alex Johnson USA
37 Oceania Mackenzie AUS
38 Rong Jiang CHN
39 Andrea Rojas ECU
40 Di Niu CHN
41 Anouck Jaubert FRA
41 HongChun Xiang CHN
43 Alma Bestvater GER
44 Afra Hönig GER
45 YiLing Song CHN
46 Lucinda Ann Stirling AUS
47 Maggie Hammer USA
48 Iqamah Nurul INA
49 Patrycja Chudziak POL
50 Iuliia Kaplina RUS
51 Aries Susanti Rahayu INA

Male
1 Adam Ondra CZE Top
2 Taisei Homma JPN Top
3 Tomoa Narasaki JPN Top
4 Kai Harada JPN 31+
5 Alberto Ginés López ESP 29+
6 Meichi Narasaki JPN 26
7 Jesse Grupper USA 25+
8 Sean Bailey USA 23+
9 James Pope GBR
10 Sebastian Halenke GER
11 Kokoro Fujii JPN
12 Marcello Bombardi ITA
13 Yannick Flohé GER
13 Stefano Ghisolfi ITA
15 Jakub Konecny CZE
16 Christoph Hanke GER
17 YuFei Pan CHN
18 Aleksey Rubtsov RUS
19 Martin Stranik CZE
20 Michael Piccolruaz ITA
21 Alex Khazanov ISR
22 Dohyun Lee KOR
23 Vladislav Shevchenko RUS
24 Sungsu Lee KOR
25 Romain Desgranges FRA
26 Sean Mccoll CAN
27 Anze Peharc SLO
27 Rudolph Ruana USA
29 Fedir Samoilov UKR
30 Loïc Timmermans BEL
31 Jongwon Chon KOR
31 Nicolas Collin BEL
31 Jernej Kruder SLO
31 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP
31 Tim Reuser NED
36 Simon Lorenzi BEL
37 Hanwool Kim KOR
38 Nathaniel Coleman USA
39 Yuki Hada JPN
40 Keita Dohi JPN
40 Campbell Harrison AUS
40 Hannes Puman SWE
43 Nikolai Iarilovets RUS
44 Rishat Khaibullin KAZ
45 Fatchur Roji INA
46 Mykhayil Tkachuk UKR
47 John Brosler USA
48 QiXin Zhong CHN
49 Carlos Granja ECU
50 Joshua Damasco AUS
51 Aleksandr Shikov RUS
52 Alfian Muhammad INA
53 Aspar Jaelolo INA
54 Aripin Zaenal INA
55 Jan Kriz CZE

Xiamen - Speed World Cup 2019
Female
1 Aries Susanti Rahayu INA 6.995
2 YiLing Song CHN 9.032
3 Mariia Krasavina RUS 7.947
4 Anouck Jaubert FRA 14.375
5 LiJuan Deng CHN
6 PeiYang Tian CHN
7 Di Niu CHN
8 Aurelia Sarisson FRA
9 Elena Remizova RUS
10 Victoire Andrier FRA
11 Natalia Kalucka POL
12 LiRong Yan CHN
13 Tetiana Kolkotina UKR
14 Andrea Rojas ECU
15 Sol Sa KOR
16 GuiZhen Xie CHN
17 Alma Bestvater GER
18 Iuliia Kaplina RUS
19 HaiMei Qiu CHN
20 Aleksandra Kalucka POL
21 Anna Brozek POL
22 Julia Chanourdie FRA
23 Elena Krasovskaya RUS
24 Sandra Lettner AUT
25 Hung Ying Lee TPE
26 Iqamah Nurul INA
27 Elnaz Rekabi IRI
28 Alannah Yip CAN
29 Elizaveta Ivanova RUS
30 Viktoriia Meshkova RUS
31 YueTong Zhang CHN
32 Patrycja Chudziak POL
33 Fanny Gibert FRA
34 Alex Johnson USA
35 Jain Kim KOR
36 Lucka Rakovec SLO
37 Rong Jiang CHN
38 Laura Rogora ITA
39 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR
40 Chaehyun Seo KOR
41 Emily Phillips GBR
42 Margo Hayes USA
43 Afra Hönig GER
44 Maggie Hammer USA
45 Heloïse Doumont BEL
46 Mia Krampl SLO
47 Ashima Shiraishi USA
48 Lan Kim KOR
49 Ai Mori JPN
50 Lucinda Ann Stirling AUS
51 Oceania Mackenzie AUS

Male
1 QiXin Zhong CHN 7.208
2 Lev Rudatskiy RUS fall
3 Vladislav Deulin RUS 5.635
4 Sergey Rukin RUS 5.763
5 Bassa Mawem FRA
6 Reza Alipourshenazandifar IRI
7 Dmitrii Timofeev RUS
8 Alfian Muhammad INA
9 Seungbeom Lee KOR
10 JinBao Long CHN
11 PengHui Lin CHN
12 Aleksandr Shikov RUS
13 Rishat Khaibullin KAZ
14 Pierre Rebreyend FRA
15 Fatchur Roji INA
16 Aleksandr Shilov RUS
17 RongQi Liang CHN
18 Amir Maimuratov KAZ
19 MinHui Wang CHN
20 ZhiYong Ou CHN
21 Stanislav Kokorin RUS
22 Kostiantyn Pavlenko UKR
23 Arsenii Bogomolov RUS
24 Jan Kriz CZE
25 Marcin Dzienski POL
26 Aripin Zaenal INA
27 Liang Zhang CHN
28 Aspar Jaelolo INA
29 Carlos Granja ECU
30 Guangfeng Li CHN
31 Kokoro Fujii JPN
32 Yannick Flohé GER
33 Jongwon Chon KOR
34 Meichi Narasaki JPN
35 Morteza Mohammadi IRI
36 Keita Dohi JPN
37 Guillaume Moro FRA
38 YuFei Pan CHN
39 Tomoa Narasaki JPN
40 Michael Piccolruaz ITA
41 Marcello Bombardi ITA
42 Sean Mccoll CAN
43 Hanwool Kim KOR
44 Stefano Ghisolfi ITA
45 Simon Lorenzi BEL
46 Sean Bailey USA
47 Aleksey Rubtsov RUS
48 Loïc Timmermans BEL
49 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP
50 Adam Ondra CZE
51 Rudolph Ruana USA
52 Nicolas Collin BEL
53 Jernej Kruder SLO
54 Hannes Puman SWE
55 Anze Peharc SLO
56 Fedir Samoilov UKR
57 Tim Reuser NED
58 Alberto Ginés López ESP
59 Campbell Harrison AUS
60 Martin Stranik CZE
61 Romain Desgranges FRA
62 ZhaXi Bianba CHN
62 John Brosler USA
62 Nathaniel Coleman USA
62 Kai Harada JPN

Speed World Cup 2019 - Final Ranking
Female
1 YiLing Song CHN 460
2 Anouck Jaubert FRA 355
3 Aries Susanti Rahayu INA 333
4 Elizaveta Ivanova RUS 261
5 Di Niu CHN 201
6 Anna Tsyganova RUS 197
7 Aleksandra Kalucka POL 194
8 Patrycja Chudziak POL 188
9 Aleksandra Miroslaw POL 180
10 Iuliia Kaplina RUS 172
11 Aurelia Sarisson FRA 167
12 Natalia Kalucka POL 155
13 Mariia Krasavina RUS 149
13 Andrea Rojas ECU 149
15 Anna Brozek POL 148
16 MingWei Ni CHN 140
17 Elena Remizova RUS 111
18 PeiYang Tian CHN 107
19 Iqamah Nurul INA 104
20 Victoire Andrier FRA 80
20 Kseniia Petrova RUS 80
22 Elena Timofeeva RUS 78
23 Ekaterina Barashchuk RUS 72
24 Capucine Viglione FRA 57
25 Alexandra Elmer AUT 56
26 LiJuan Deng CHN 51
27 Elena Krasovskaya RUS 47
28 Tetiana Kolkotina UKR 45
29 Anna Calanca ITA 43
30 Miho Nonaka JPN 40
31 HaiMei Qiu CHN 39
32 Sol Sa KOR 33
33 LiRong Yan CHN 28
34 Hung Ying Lee TPE 26
34 Assel Marlenova KAZ 26
36 Rong Jiang CHN 25
37 GuiZhen Xie CHN 20
38 Polina Aksenova RUS 18
38 Alma Bestvater GER 18
40 CuiLian He CHN 15
41 Elisabetta Dalla Brida ITA 14
41 Futaba Ito JPN 14
41 Polina Kulagina RUS 14
44 Alannah Yip CAN 13
45 Kyra Condie USA 12
46 Sienna Kopf USA 11
47 Julia Chanourdie FRA 9
47 Janja Garnbret SLO 9
49 Sandra Lettner AUT 7
49 Tamara Ulzhabayeva KAZ 7
51 Emma Hunt USA 6
51 Kamilla Kushaeva RUS 6
53 Laura Lammer AUT 5
53 Oceania Mackenzie AUS 5
55 Elnaz Rekabi IRI 4
56 Mahya Darabian IRI 2
56 Romane Fontelaye FRA 2
56 Akiyo Noguchi JPN 2
59 Petra Klingler SUI 1
59 Viktoriia Meshkova RUS 1

Male
1 Bassa Mawem FRA 329
2 Vladislav Deulin RUS 312
3 Alfian Muhammad INA 286
4 QiXin Zhong CHN 285
5 Dmitrii Timofeev RUS 283
6 Reza Alipourshenazandifar IRI 236
7 Sergey Rukin RUS 234
8 Aleksandr Shikov RUS 203
9 Kostiantyn Pavlenko UKR 181
10 Jan Kriz CZE 162
11 Aspar Jaelolo INA 158
12 Marcin Dzienski POL 150
13 Aleksandr Shilov RUS 137
14 Lev Rudatskiy RUS 136
15 Ludovico Fossali ITA 126
16 Long Cao CHN 121
17 JinBao Long CHN 120
18 Fatchur Roji INA 118
19 Danyil Boldyrev UKR 102
19 Stanislav Kokorin RUS 102
21 Seungbeom Lee KOR 93
22 ZhiXing Chen CHN 77
23 ZhiYong Ou CHN 75
24 Gian Luca Zodda ITA 65
25 Nikolai Iarilovets RUS 63
26 PengHui Lin CHN 62
27 John Brosler USA 61
28 Carlos Granja ECU 54
29 Rishat Khaibullin KAZ 51
30 Arsenii Bogomolov RUS 50
31 Amir Maimuratov KAZ 47
32 Pierre Rebreyend FRA 46
33 Sergei Luzhetskii RUS 31
34 Georgy Artamonov RUS 26
34 Mickael Mawem FRA 26
36 RongQi Liang CHN 18
36 Erik Noya Cardona ESP 18
38 Kokoro Fujii JPN 16
38 Liang Zhang CHN 16
40 Manuel Cornu FRA 15
41 MinHui Wang CHN 14
42 Joe Goodacre USA 12
42 Shuo Xu CHN 12
44 Mehdi Alipourshenazandi IRI 9
44 Tomoa Narasaki JPN 9
46 Cheung-chi Shoji Chan HKG 8
46 Artem Khabibullin RUS 8
48 Ehsan Asrar IRI 6
49 ZhaXi Bianba CHN 5
49 Aripin Zaenal INA 5
51 Jan Hojer GER 4
52 Lukas Knapp AUT 3
53 Keita Dohi JPN 2
53 Michael Piccolruaz ITA 2
55 Guangfeng Li CHN 1
55 Meichi Narasaki JPN 1