Stefano Ghisolfi, Eliška Adamovská win in Briançon

Somehow he stayed put. Perhaps by magic, as the speaker hypothesized. When Stefano Ghisolfi's foot slipped from below the enormous volume that blocked the way to the top of the intense final route, his weekend of almost total perfection in Briançon seemed to slip from his grasp once again. Yet again the 28-year-old was gunning for the gold this season, yet again he only had to keep his nerve to overcome the final hurdle, just like in Innsbruck and Chamonix a few days before, and having waltzed up the route to that point, suddenly everything seemed lost once again.

A foot slip from that position was fatal, climbing on simply impossibile. But Ghisolfi, will impressive willpower and even more impressive arm power compressed the volume, scrambled onto it masterfully, clip the quickdraw and climb past the highest point reached by the all-powerful Russian Dmitrii Fakirianov. And then Ghisolfi continued his climb, up to the 42nd hold, just below the top accompanied by a beautiful rainbow to secure the sixth career gold medal. "I wanted it with all my soul" the Italian stated after his fully deserved victory, cemented in front of 5000 spectators who had braved the heavy downpour, and celebrated with Fakirianov, second, and Martin Stranik from the Czech Republic, third. Sean Bailey, winner in both Villars and Chamonix, finished fourth ahead of Sascha Lehmann and Fedir Samoilov, fifth and sixth respectively, while Alberto Ginés López - the only athlete qualified for Tokyo who decided to take part in the fourth round of the World Cup Lead 2021 - finished seventh ahead of Luka Potocar.

A few minutes later, the women's competition witnessed one of the most touching moments this season thanks to Eliška Adamovská. The depth of talent from the Czech Republic is astounding the the 20-year-old determinedly battled her way to the tiny crimp, hold number 36, before falling and screaming out all her irrepressible joy. She knew she'd done enough to earn her first World Cup medal - bronze, silver or gold, at that moment the colour was unimportant - but moments later her wildest dream came true when both Slovenia's Lucka Rakovec and America's Natalia Grossman fell lower than her. This is Adamovska's first World Cup gold medal after her excellent second place at the European Championships in Moscow in 2020; Grossman for her part earned his seventh medal this season, in just seven Lead and Boulder comps, while 20-year-old Slovenian Vita Lukan celebrated her first medal in a Lead World Cup.

The World Cup will resume in September in Kranj, Slovenia, while for now all eyes are on just one event: the Tokyo Olympics. The Olympic Games will officially begin on Friday 23 July, while sport climbing will make its historic debut from 3 to 6 August 2021.

1 Eliska Adamovska CZE 36
2 Natalia Grossman USA 35+
3 Vita Lukan SLO 29
4 Ashima Shiraishi USA 27+
5 Ryu Nakagawa JPN 27+
6 Lucka Rakovec SLO 26+
7 Lana Skusek SLO 24+
8 Aleksandra Totkova BUL 22+
9 Natsuki Tanii JPN
10 Camilla Moroni ITA
11 Tjasa Slemensek SLO
12 Molly Thompson-Smith GBR
13 Eva Maria Hammelmüller AUT
14 Camille Pouget FRA
15 Martina Demmel GER
16 Hannah Meul GER
17 Salomé Romain FRA
18 Julia Fiser AUT
19 Nina Arthaud FRA
20 Oriane Bertone FRA
21 Fanny Gibert FRA
22 Franziska Sterrer AUT
23 Giorgia Tesio ITA
24 Mattea Pötzi AUT
25 Momoko Abe JPN
26 Lucija Tarkus SLO
27 Käthe Atkins GER
28 Michelle Hulliger SUI
29 Sabina Van Essen NED
29 Manon Hily FRA
31 Anne-Sophie Koller SUI
32 Lynn Van Der Meer NED
33 Maya Madere USA
34 Lucia Dörffel GER
34 Michaela Smetanova CZE
36 Valeri Kremer ISR
37 Nolwenn Arc FRA
38 Chloe Caulier BEL
39 Luisa Flohé GER
40 Selma Elhadj Mimoune FRA
41 Celine Cuypers BEL
42 Alessia Mabboni ITA
42 Saula Lerondel FRA
44 Sunniva Øvre-Eide NOR
45 Kintana Iltis FRA
46 Rut Monsech Gasca ESP
47 Ilaria Scolaris ITA
48 Valentina Aguado ARG
49 Aida Torres Illamola ESP
50 Julia Duffy USA
51 Cloe Coscoy USA
52 Iziar Martínez Almendros ESP
53 Lucie Watillon BEL
54 Alexandra Gullberg SWE
55 Eliska Novotna CZE
56 Doriane Mary Saramandif MRI
Edel Lemvik NOR

1 Stefano Ghisolfi ITA 42+
2 Dmitrii Fakirianov RUS 39+
3 Martin Stranik CZE 37+
4 Sean Bailey USA 36
5 Sascha Lehmann SUI 35
6 Fedir Samoilov UKR 35
7 Alberto Ginés López ESP 27+
8 Luka Potocar SLO 22
9 Victor Baudrand CAN
10 Domen Skofic SLO
11 Yannick Flohé GER
12 Masahiro Higuchi JPN
13 Mathias Posch AUT
14 Nicolas Collin BEL
15 Marcello Bombardi ITA
16 Sam Avezou FRA
17 Sebastian Halenke GER
18 Nino Grünenfelder SUI
19 Hamish Mcarthur GBR
20 Sohta Amagasa JPN
21 Peter Kuric SVK
22 Ross Fulkerson USA
23 Joshua Fourteau FRA
24 Ties Vancraeynest BEL
25 Campbell Harrison AUS
26 Hannes Puman SWE
27 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP
28 Leo Avezou FRA
29 Alistair Duval FRA
30 Milan Preskar SLO
31 Martin Bergant SLO
32 Mejdi Schalck FRA
33 Christoph Hanke GER
34 Oscar Baudrand CAN
35 Stefan Scherz AUT
35 Sean Faulkner CAN
37 Ellis Ernsberger USA
37 Martin Tekles GER
39 Timothy Kang USA
40 Diego Fourbet FRA
41 Nao Monchois FRA
42 Alberto Gotta ITA
43 Nicolai Uznik AUT
44 Arsène Duval FRA
44 Dylan Chuat SUI
46 Max Kleesattel GER
47 Satone Yoshida JPN
48 Stepan Volf CZE
49 Julien Clémence SUI
50 Mark Brand NED
51 Paul Jenft FRA
52 Ziga Zajc SLO
53 Andoni Esparta Frade ESP
54 Hugo Parmentier FRA
55 Giovanni Placci ITA
56 Amiad Lipman ISR
57 Leto Cavé NED
58 Tomas Plevko SVK
59 Hannes Van Duysen BEL
60 Paul Brand NED
61 Leo Ketil Bøe NOR
62 Paolo Sterni ITA
63 Jáchym Cink CZE
64 Oleksii Tytarenko UKR
65 Jan Vopat CZE
66 Vaidotas Monstavicius LTU
67 Leonid Osadchyi UKR
68 Fabian Förander SWE

For more photos check out: www.lenadrapella.com/IFSC/Briancon