Noguchi and Fujii Win Gold, McColl Returns to Form with Silver in Chongqing
The third stop of the 2018 IFSC World Cup circuit saw Japanese, Indonesian and Russian athletes dominate the podiums.
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After a disappointing season on the World Cup circuit in 2017, the Canadian Sean McColl returned to form over the weekend by taking second place in the third bouldering World Cup of 2018, in Chongqing, China. “It’s nice to have my confidence back,” McColl wrote on Instagram.
Chongqing marked the first of two China-based World Cups this season, the second to be held next week, May 12 to 13, in Tai’an. The men’s final started in a dead heat, with all six competitors flashing the first problem. While McColl was one of just two competitors, along with Jakob Schubert, to flash two of the four final’s problems, the Japanese climber Fujii Kokoro was able to slide past the Canadian for the win when he topped the final problem in five attempts. Kokoro was the only climber with three tops. Third place went to the Russian Aleksei Rubtsov, his second medal of the season after a third place finish in Meiringen, Switzerland.
On the women’s side, the Japanese climbers Akiyo Noguchi and Miho Nonaka took first and second, respectively, each earning their third medal of the season in as many events. The Japanese women’s dominance doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon: Noguchi topped all four problems with three flashes and Nonaka topped three of them, whereas no other finalist had more than a single top. After finishing fourth in Meiringen, the Serbian Stasa Gejo recorded her first top-three finish of the season with a bronze in Chongqing.
Three Americans competed in this stage. Kyra Condie finished in 21st (one spot shy of qualifying for semi-finals) and Sierra Blair-Coyle, who came in 35th overall. For the men, Sean Bailey finished in 23rd place.
Condie also competed in the speed climbing competition, in which she finished 30th. Indonesia was the big winner in speed, with Aries Susanti Rahayu and Puji Lestarie taking first and third for the women, and Aspar Jaelolo taking second for the men. The Russian Elena Timofeeva finished second in the women’s bracket, and her countryman Dmitrii Timofeev took first in the men’s. Rounding out the men’s podium was Danyil Boldyrev, of Ukraine, in third.
Final Results
Women’s Bouldering
Men’s Bouldering
Women’s Speed
Men’s Speed
For full results, visit the IFSC’s website.
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