The fourth IFSC Lead World Cup round of 2018 took place in Arco, Italy last weekend alongside the 6th Speed World Cup of the season. Team GB's Jim Pope and Will Bosi narrowly missed out on lead semi-finals and placed 28th and 31st respectively.
© Eddie Fowke/IFSC
Results below highlights and finals videos (don't scroll if you don't want to know!!)
IFSC Climbing Worldcup (L,S) - Arco (ITA) 2018
Results
Continuing her run of form from Briançon after a slight off-day in Chamonix, Slovenia's Janja Garnbret took Gold after a gutsy fight on a complex and awkward women's final route. Jessy Pilz (AUT) reached just one move behind Janja following a stunning display of endurance. Anak Verhoeven (BEL) struggled to up her typically slow pace and was timed-out 4+ moves below Jessy's score. Following some complaints of the women's routes being too easy, the setters certainly upped their game in Arco to provide more challenging routes.
© Eddie Fowke/IFSC
The men's final route proved a touch too hard, however. WIth Adam Ondra in the mix for the first time this season as preparation ahead of the Innsbruck World Championships next month, the level appeared to have been raised significantly. Jakob Schubert (AUT) set a highpoint of 44+ on a route with 65 moves. Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA), Domen Skofic (SLO) and Adam Ondra were clustered around the 41/41+ mark on a stopper move on poor holds, which only Jakob managed to surpass with a cunning heel hook.
In the speed event, Danyil Boldyrev (UKR) took Gold in the men's category and Iuliia Kaplina (RUS) won the women's competition.
Comments
It was a shame to see Anak Verhoeven timed out as she looked relaxed could definitely have carried on further. I also wondered about Jesse Pilz too who fell just a couple of seconds before the clock ran out. Did she know she was out of time and so just rushed the last few moves? Some climbers are naturally faster and some tend to climb slower. The 6m rule obviously favours those who tend to climb faster and thus introduces a bias in to the competition.