UKC

IFSC Speed World Championships Innsbruck: Report

© Eddie Fowke/IFSC

The Speed competition at the IFSC World Championships in Innsbruck proved more popular than ever, with the Combined Final event and Tokyo 2020 in sight. Top contenders from the IFSC Speed World Cup circuit lined up on the starting pads alongside the best athletes in Boulder and Lead.

Reza Alipourshenazandifar of Iran takes the men's title.  © Eddie Fowke/IFSC
Reza Alipourshenazandifar of Iran takes the men's title.
© Eddie Fowke/IFSC

Notable former Lead and Boulder specialists performing well in Speed included Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) in 21st place and Jan Hojer in 33rd in the men's event, and Miho Nonaka (JPN) in 25th and Petra Klingler in 23rd in the women's.

In the women's competition, the top 5 places were taken by Polish and Russian athletes. Aleksandra Rudzinska edged ahead of Patrycja Chudziak in the quarterfinal by five hundredths of a second and capitalised on a slip from Aleksandra Kalucka in the semi -final. After falling just shy of a medal in 2016, Rudzinska raced to the fastest time of the women's Speed final (7.560 seconds) to beat Anna Brozek for Gold.

Brozek's times were all under eight seconds and she placed 2nd. In the small final, Mariia Krasavina (RUS) won the bronze medal after a false start from Kalucka. 2016 World Champion, Anna Tsyganova (RUS), placed 8th, and Speed world record holders Anouck Jaubert (FRA) and Iuliia Kaplina (RUS) were both knocked out of finals in the first round.

Women's Speed Podium Innsbruck 2018.  © Eddie Fowke/IFSC
Women's Speed Podium Innsbruck 2018.
© Eddie Fowke/IFSC

Iranian Reza Alipourshenazandifar - current men's Speed world record holder - achieved three times under 6 seconds in the men's Speed final, with his fastest time coming in the big final against Bassa Mawem (FRA). Both athletes sped to the finish, but a slip from Mawem at the very last move was all it took for Alipourshenazandifar to claim the victory and become Speed World Champion after placing 3rd in 2014 and 2nd in 2016.

Men's podium in Speed: Innsbruck 2018.  © Eddie Fowke/IFSC
Men's podium in Speed: Innsbruck 2018.
© Eddie Fowke/IFSC

Stanislav Kokorin, the only other athlete to record three times under 6 seconds in the men's Speed final, continued his good form in the small final against QiXin Zhong (CHN) for bronze. Zhong, a former World Champion, recorded the best time of the men's Speed final (5.609 seconds), placing 4th. 2016 World Champion Marcin Dzienski (POL) placed 10th.

Aleksandra Rudzinska: World Speed Champion 2018.  © Eddie Fowke/IFSC
Aleksandra Rudzinska: World Speed Champion 2018.
© Eddie Fowke/IFSC

Results

MEN speed

Rank Name Nation Semi's Final
1 Reza Alipourshena. IRI 6.144 5.808
2 Bassa Mawem FRA Wildcard 5.714
3 Stanislav Kokorin RUS 5.953 5.832
4 QiXin Zhong CHN 5.993 5.609
5 Vladislav Deulin RUS 6.053 5.904
6 Kostiantyn Pavlenko UKR 6.228 6.021
7 Aleksandr Shikov RUS 5.851 6.364
8 Jan Kriz CZE Wildcard 6.466
9 PengHui LIN CHN 6.044
10 Marcin Dzienski POL 6.428
11 Aleksandr Shilov RUS 6.438
12 Jordan Fishman USA 8.977
13 Dmitrii Timofeev RUS 12.236
14 Ludovico Fossali ITA false start
15 Leonardo Gontero ITA fall
16 Amir Maimuratov KAZ false start
17 Joe Goodacre USA
17 Yongsu Lee KOR
19 Almaz Nagaev RUS
20 Carlos Granja ECU
50 William Bosi GBR Qual' 7.884
83 William Ridal GBR Qual' 9.378
Full results

WOMEN speed

Rank Name Nation Semi's Final
1 Aleksandra Rudzinska POL 8.162 7.830
2 Anna Brozek POL 7.908 7.961
3 Mariia Krasavina RUS 8.264 7.713
4 Aleksandra Kalucka POL 8.038 Wildcard
5 Patrycja Chudziak POL 8.159 7.880
6 Alla Marenych UKR 8.395 8.174
7 YiLing SONG CHN 8.362 8.906
8 Anna Tsyganova RUS 7.978 false start
9 Di Niu CHN 8.037
10 Natalia Kalucka POL 8.274
11 Ekaterina Barashchuk RUS 8.302
12 Elizaveta Ivanova RUS 8.304
13 Iuliia Kaplina RUS 8.437
14 CuiLian He CHN 10.367
15 Anouck Jaubert FRA fall
16 Victoire Andrier FRA fall
17 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR
18 Jain Kim KOR
19 Andrea Rojas ECU
20 Aurelia Sarisson FRA
70 Jennifer Wood GBR Qual' 14.050
Full results

Video


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Why is this a thing?

17 Sep, 2018

When is the IFSC going t get rid of this stupid discipline? 

17 Sep, 2018

Can someone please explain the scores? Some people appear to have faster times but are placed behind others with apparently slower times.

17 Sep, 2018

It's not. It's the only form of climbing where you can have a world record. Bet it's the most popular format in terms of viewers numbers at the Olympics in 2020. Bouldering is great but it's crap to watch as a none climber. 

17 Sep, 2018

My daughter and I tried to watch this on eurosport,  stopped after a few rounds, won't be watching it again. 

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