European Speed Olympic Qualification today in Rome

The International Federation of Sport Climbing European Speed Qualifier will take place today in the Italian capital city of Rome, with qualifications scheduled to start at 12:00 (UTC+2:00) and finals closing the day at 20:00.

The winners of the gold medal race in both the men’s and women’s events will qualify for the Paris Olympics, pending the confirmation of their respective National Olympic Committees, and adding their names to the ones of Matteo Zurloni of Italy, Long Jinbao of China, Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi of Indonesia, and Emma Hunt of the USA – who all qualified at the IFSC World Championships Bern 2023, last August.

Under the spotlights in the women’s event will be Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland – current world record holder and winner of the eight last World Cups she participated in. Also competing in the women’s event will be her teammates Aleksandra and Natalia Kalucka – currently ranked seventh and second in the world – France’s Victoire Andrier, who won silver at this year’s World Cup in Chamonix, France; and home favourite Beatrice Colli, holder of the Italian national record.

Following Zurloni’s title in Bern, Switzerland, Erik Noya Cardona of Spain is now the best-ranked male climber competing in Rome, with Tokyo 2020 Olympians Bassa Mawem of France, and Ludovico Fossali of Italy following up close.

The winner of the men’s Speed event at the IFSC European Cup Bologna 2023 – Ukraine’s Yaroslav Tkach – will also be among the contenders, with silver medal winner Kostiantyn Pavlenko, also representing Ukraine, competing as well.

Speed qualifications and finals in Rome will be live streamed on the IFSC YouTube channel. Finals will be geo blocked in Europe, and European viewers will be able to watch the closing round of the event on Eurosport and Discovery Plus.

The IFSC European Speed Qualifier Rome 2023 will be the first of five IFSC continental events, each awarding a pair of Olympic quota places for Paris 2024. The next ones will take place in Laval, France; Jakarta, Indonesia; Melbourne, Australia; and Pretoria, South Africa.