Shanghai Olympic Qualifier Series: Speed, Boulder & Lead qualification results

Differently from qualification rounds at regular World Cups and Championships, in Shanghai the 96 participating athletes had only one Lead route to climb, with points being added to their score in yesterday’s Boulder phase, and the top 20 in each event moving on to the Boulder & Lead semi-finals.

In the men’s event, Spanish climber Alberto Ginés López put on another show after performing greatly on the Boulder mats, taking first place both in the Lead ranking – with 88.1 points – and in the overall one – with 167.1.

Italy’s veteran Stefano Ghisolfi was the second best in the Lead phase, finishing with 76.1 points and climbing up to 10th place in the overall standings, where he totalized 115.3 points.

After taking the top position in the Boulder phase, Lee Dohyun of South Korea slid down in second at the end of a 72.1-point Lead performance.

"Today was maybe seven out of 10, yesterday was nine. Today was tougher. I am a little bit tired but good, this place is really nice. I am calm, I don’t think too much,” he said. "I have a lot of energy yet. I did my best and the result is not important for me.

"It’s not a strong sport. So many people don’t know sport climbing so I want to promote it. If I go to the Olympics, I will be just happy because Olympics was my dream. Maybe my parents will be crying.”

Women's Boulder & Lead qualification
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nonaka Miho of Japan led the women’s Boulder & Lead table at the end of the Lead phase, thanks to a solid performance worth 60.0 points that took her to a total of 159.6.

Taking third place in the overall ranking was Ukraine’s Ievgeniia Kazbekova – first in the Boulder phase with 99.8 points, to which she added 39.1, for a total of 138.9. Only 0.1 points behind Kazbekova was another Japanese athlete – Ito Futaba – who paired her 99.7 Boulder points with the 39.1 she earned on the Lead wall.

"Yesterday I was happy because I almost got 100 points out of 100, but today I felt not so good because it’s warm, so the holds felt sweaty. So, it was not a good feeling today but tomorrow is semi-final,” commented Ito.

"I don’t think I can do anything to combat the heat. Maybe I have to chalk up a lot but it’s a little bit hard to hold a hold with both hand and chalk up. I just need to keep going. Maybe I have to get the stronger motivation and keep fighting.

"It’s so hard to get the ticket because our team is so strong, everyone. Miho and everyone are friends, but they are also rivals. I don’t want to get into a fight with them, it’s just a fight with the wall. I am ready for that,” she said.

SPEED WOMEN
The fastest event in the Paris 2024 programme has taken one more step towards the completion of its qualification process, after the men’s and women’s Speed qualification rounds went down at Shanghai 2024.

The top 16 athletes in each event qualified for the finals, which will be contested in a knockout format.

Aleksandra Kalucka of Poland and Wu Peng of China placed at the top of the tables, respectively with 6.55 and 4.94 seconds. Along with Wu, the home team stacked the final rounds with climbers, as all eight Chinese participants – four women and four men – made the cut: Zhou Yafei, Niu Di, Wang Shengyan, and Zhang Shaoqin in the women’s event; Wu, Long Jianguo, Wang Xinshang, and Zhang Liang in the men’s one.

In the women’s event, Kalucka will be joined by her sister Aleksandra – fifth with 6.77 – while Team France and Team Indonesia will be represented by three athletes each: Capucine Viglione, Lison Gautron, and Manon Lebon for France; Narda Mutia Amanda, Rajiah Sallsabillah, and Nurul Iqamah for Indonesia.

"I am very happy, this is my first international competition this season, and it is cool to be in the final. I am happy with my performance,” said Lebon at the end of the round.

"I was a little bit nervous before the start of the competition, but after practice I was okay. I can’t wait to compete in the final tomorrow, in this beautiful place and in front of all these people.”

SPEED MEN
Joining Wu below the 5-second mark were Indonesian speedsters Veddriq Leonardo and Kiromal Katibin, who stopped the clock at 4.95 and 4.99 respectively. Their teammated Raharjati Nursamsa and Aspar Aspar also made it into the top 16.

The only other team with China and Indonesia bringing more than one climber into the men’s final will be Ukraine, after Yaroslav Tkach and Hrihorii Ilchyshyn took 13th and 15th positions.

Tkach said: "Physically and mentally, I feel good, in perfect condition. The most difficult part was to get into the top 16, after that you just need to do clean rounds in the final. The wall is super good, very fast, a lot of athletes made their personal bests today.”

Speed events at the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai 2024 will conclude tomorrow with the men’s and women’s final starting at 17:00 (UTC+8:00).

The Olympic Qualifier Series is composed of two legs, the first one in Shanghai from 16 to 19 May, and the second one in Budapest, Hungary, from 20 to 23 June. Every competition round at the OQS will be streamed live on Olympics.com.