China's Long Jianguo and Deng Lijuan claim speed glory at World Cup in Villars
Five Chinese climbers stepped on the podium in Switzerland during the fourth speed event of the season.
Sport Climbing
Double sport climbing delight for China as Deng Lijuan and Long Jianguo took out the speed event at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup in Villars, Switzerland.
The Asian nation claimed the top of the podium for the first time this season as the fastest men and women in the world faced off against each other at the Place du Rendez-Vous.
In the women's event Deng was dominant, winning the final in a time of 6.87 seconds. Her fellow countrywoman Niu Di finished second in 8.22 seconds.
Indonesia's Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi was third after beating Anna Brozek of Poland in the small final.
After her comfortable victory, a smiling Deng said, "I'm very happy. I want to say a big thank you to my country because they gave us a lot of support during the pandemic and finally we have come back to the stage so it means a lot."
In the men's event, it was an all China podium with Long touching in a time of 5.23, and very narrowly pipped his teammate Wu Peng, who clocked 5.24.
Third place went to Long Jinbao after his Indonesian opponent Veddriq Leonardo fell and settled for fourth.
Kiromal Katibin, who lowered his world record during the qualifiers on Thursday, finished in fifth.
Speaking after his close victory, Jianguo said, "I feel very excited and I did not expect this.
"It's my first time competing in a World Cup so I feel pretty good. Thank you to my country for supporting me step-by-step to get this medal."
You can find the full results of the Women's speed final HERE and the men's results HERE.
The lead finals are scheduled for Saturday (July 2). The competition in Villars will be streamed live on Olympic Channel via olympics.com (territorial restrictions apply).
Schedule: IFSC Climbing World Cup Villars 2022
Competition continues this weekend with some compeition available to be streamed on Olympic Channel HERE.
(Territorial restrictions may apply)
Schedule (UTC +2:00)
Saturday, 2 July:
10:00 - Lead semi-finals
20:00 - Men's Lead final
Followed by Women's Lead final