Laura Rogora, Nika Potapova, Hidemasa Nishida Youth World Champions Lead

The new lead climbing world youth champion is Italian athlete Laura Rogora. She produced an exceptional performance yesterday at the Climbing Stadium in Arco, in the kingdom of sport climbing. It was difficult to keep concentrated after dominating the qualification rounds and the semi-finals, but the Italian athlete from Rome managed to arouse enthusiasm even in the final in front of an awesome crowd. She had to give her best given the excellent results of France's Nolwenn Arc (second place) and America's Brooke Raboutou (third place). A chill ran down everyone's spine when - halfway through - the Italian athlete was forced to dyno; but she was able to touch her last hold and exulted for the prestigious title , a champion (Fiamme Oro) who is just 153 centimetres tall: "I was first in the qualification rounds and in the semi-finals, and it was not easy to start with this responsibility. I felt a lot of anxiety climbing, but thanks to the cheers, I was able to relax and I gave everything I had”. The semi-final was very hard for the climbers, while the final was easier and the route left room for the initiative of the athletes. And now... it’s time for bouldering, where Laura Rogora will try to win another world title after winning last year in Russia.

In the Youth A final everyone expected vicotry for Spain's Alberto Ginés López or America's Colin Duffy, but the two were beaten by Japan's Hidemasa Nishida, with Duffy finishing second and López third. Davide Marco Colombo, after placing fifth in the semi-finals, was in seventh place, projecting himself on bouldering and speed where – just as Rogora – he will take part in the three competitions of Arco. Ukrainian Nika Potapova won the female semi-finals against Japan's Natsumi Hirano and France's Luce Douady. Also in this case the competition was very balanced: the first two athletes reached the same height, but Potapova raised her arms in joy thanks to a better performance in the semi-finals: "I love Arco and this wall, winning here was the crowning of a dream," said the Ukrainian, who will also compete in bouldering.

Satisfaction for the SSD Sport Climbing Committee Arco, which ended the lead challenges with applause: "Garda Trentino proves to be an ideal location with great weather conditions – said World Championship director Angelo Seneci. – Thirty years of Rock Master, fifteen years of Rock Junior, three World Championships until now, this means that we are trained. The officials of the federation were amazed at the perfect coordination of team, volunteers, trackers and FASI. The work was interesting and was done very well: and this is just the beginning!"

Lead finals – Youth A male
1 Hidemasa Nishida JPN 51+; 2 Colin Duffy USA 49+; 3 Alberto Ginés López ESP 47+; 4 Ao YURIKUSA JPN 46+; 5 Hamish McArthur GBR 43+; 6 Paul Jenft FRA 41+; 7 Davide Marco Colombo ITA 40+; 8 Zander Waller USA 40

Lead finals – Youth A female
1 Nika Potapova UKR 54+; 2 Natsumi Hirano JPN 54+; 3 Luce Douady FRA 42+; 4 Emily Phillips GBR 33.6+; 5 Vanda Michalkova SVK 33.3; 6 Camille Pouget FRA 31+; 7 Jana Rauth AUT 26; 8 Zoé Egli SUI 24

Lead finals – Junior female
1 Laura Rogora ITA 55+; 2 Nolwenn Arc FRA 55+; 3 Brooke Raboutou USA 54+; 4 Eliska Adamovska CZE 43+; 5 Lucia Dörffel GER 40+; 6 Natalia Grossman USA 40+; 7 Yuka Higuchi JPN 31+; 8 Mattea Pötzi AUT 24+

Info: www.ywcharco2019.it