Lead World Cup, Jain Kim and Ramon Julian Puigblanque win in Puurs

A week after the World Championship in Paris, Jain Kim and Ramon Julian Puigblanque have now won the fourth stage of the Lead World Cup which took place last weekend in Puurs, Belgium. The Korean and the Spaniard partially consoled themselves for the gold they missed out on in the French capital even if, it must be said, the two reigning World Champions aren't mentioned in the final ranking. Angela Eiter chose not to attend the competition: after circa 12 seasons the Austrian has understandably decided to take part in just a few choice events such as the Arco Rock Master and the World Championship - both of which she happened to win. While her teammate and recently crowned World Champion Jacob Schubert received a red card in Puurs and was disqualified for having glanced at the clock on his phone. The Austrian was in the lead after the Semifinal and the IFSC rule, which states that no unauthorised means of communications may be used while in the isolation zone, was applied. The rule is clear and left the judges with no alternative but one hopes that after this precedent it will no longer be ignored, as has often been the case in the past, but applied to all in the future. Schubert explained it had been a "stupid mistake" and after apologising to the spectators promised to do good in the next comp which takes place this weekend in Atlanta, USA.

This surprising turn of events aside, the competition witnessed some outstanding climbing: Kim beat Johanna Ernst by just one hold and by three holds Magdalena Röck and Mina Markovic, back on fighting form after her injury had forced her to skip the World Championship. These were followed by Hélène Janicot, Akiyo Noguchi, Evgenia Malamid and Charlotte Durif.

In the men's event Puigblanque reached the 60th hold, three holds higher than Cedric Lachat, Romain Desranges and Sachi Amma (2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively), while Sean McColl, Jorg Verhoeven and Mario Lechner fell slightly lower down. Put in other words: Spain, Switzerland, France, Japan, Holland and Austria... a more international final is practically impossible! And Italy? Stefano Ghisolfi placed 11th, Francesco Vettorata 16th, Silvio Reffo 22nd and Jenny Lavarda 23rd.


IFSC Climbing Worldcup (L) - Puurs (BEL) 2012
Men
1 Ramón Julian Puigblanque 1981 ESP 60+
2 Cédric Lachat 1984 SUI 57+
3 Romain Desgranges 1982 FRA 57+
4 Sachi AMMA 1989 JPN 57+
5 Sean McColl 1987 CAN 55+
6 Jorg Verhoeven 1985 NED 51+
7 Mario Lechner 1991 AUT 45

Women
1 Jain Kim 1988 KOR 56
2 Johanna Ernst 1992 AUT 54+
3 Magdalena Röck 1994 AUT 51+
4 Mina Markovic 1987 SLO 51+
5 Hélène Janicot 1993 FRA 50+
6 Akiyo Noguchi 1989 JPN 49+
7 Evgenia Malamid 1987 RUS 47+
8 Charlotte Durif 1990 FRA 47+