USA Girls Rise Up in Arco’s IFSC Bouldering Youth and Junior World Championships
USA, Japan, and Slovenia dominate the podium in the first-ever IFSC Bouldering Youth and Junior World Championships.
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Arco, Italy 14-year-old Ashima Shiraishi sweeps the first-ever IFSC Bouldering Youth and Junior World Championships. Shiraishi brought a gold medal home to the USA, flashing three of four finals problems and completing the fourth in three attempts. She was the only Youth B competitor to top out all four problems. With three topouts apiece, Russia’s Elena Krasovskaia took silver and Slovenia’s Vita Lukan took bronze, bumping the USA’s Natalia Grossman and Brooke Raboutou into fourth and fifth place.
Competitions are broken in to three age groups for each gender: Youth B (ages 14-15), Youth A (ages 16-17), and Junior (ages 18-19). Junior climbers are also eligible for the IFSC World Cup circuit, depending on their performance in qualifying rounds. This accounts for young climbers like Jongwon Chon and Jessica Pilz competing in both tours.
USA’s Margo Hayes performed strongly in the Female Youth A category, claiming silver with two flashes on the finals problems. Janja Garnbret secured a gold medal for the Slovenian team by topping out three of the final boulders, the only Female Youth A competitor to do so.
Japan dominated the Male Youth categories, winning two silvers and a gold medal between the Youth A and B competitions. USA’s Shawn Raboutou (brother of Brooke Raboutou) barely missed the podium in the Male Youth B final, giving up the bronze to France’s Hugo Parmentier. Parmentier completed two problems in four attempts; Raboutou, in five.
Perhaps the most predictable performance came from Korea’s Jongwon Chon, age 19. Fresh from his gold medal victory in the Bouldering World Cup Championships, Chon edged out France’s Nicolas Pelorson by one attempt in the Junior age category and took his second first-place title of the season.
Last weekend’s competition concludes the bouldering season, but as Ashima Shiraishi posted on Facebook yesterday, “Now onto lead!!!”
2015 IFSC Bouldering Youth and Junior World Championships
Female Youth B (age 14-15):
1. Ashima Shiraishi (USA)
2. Elena Krasovskaia (RUS)
3. Vita Lukan (SLO)
Female Youth A (age 16-17):
1. Janja Garnbret (SLO)
2. Margo Hayes (USA)
3. Asja Gollo (ITA)
Female Junior (age 18-19):
1. Stasa Gejo (SRB)
2. Miho Nonaka (JPN)
3. Jessica Pilz (AUT)
Male Youth B (age 14-15):
1. Filip Schenk (ITA)
2. Keita Dohi (JPN)
3. Lukas Franckaert (BEL)
Male Youth A (age 16-17):
1. Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN)
2. Kai Harada (JPN)
3. Hugo Parmentier (FRA)
Male Junior (age 18-19):
1. Jongwon Chon (KOR)
2. Nicolas Pelorson (FRA)
3. Anze Peharc (SLO)
Full competition results available on IFSC’s website.
Click here to read about the IFSC Youth and Junior Lead World Championships