Veddriq Leonardo and Zhou Yafei take speed climbing titles at OQS Shanghai
Veddriq Leonardo broke the Asian record several times to win men’s speed at OQS Shanghai, while the People's Republic of China's Zhou Yafei posted a personal best to win the women’s event.
Sport Climbing
The Asian speed climbing record was shattered multiple times as the world's best battled for the champion title at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China on Saturday, 18 May.
Having lost his world record of 4.90 seconds to USA’s Samuel Watson in April, Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo made sure his name would still have a prominent position in the record books as he continued to outdo his personal best and post new continental records with each round.
The 27-year-old managed a personal best of 4.88 in the semi-final to improve on his own Asian record and shaved off more time in the next attempt as he reached the top in 4.83 seconds in a dream final against world No.1 Wu Peng.
Wu and Leonardo were the only two athletes to consistently go under the five-second mark in Shanghai and were neck-and-neck in the final with Wu touching the board in 4.88 seconds on home soil.
As Leonardo was lowered back down to the stage after his win, his coaches jubiliantly embraced each other in the stands. The win at the Olympic Qualifier Series earns their athlete a crucial 50 ranking points on the quest to secure a Paris 2024 quota*.
“It is not only to compete for the sake of the competition, it is also my responsibility as an Indonesian to bring Indonesia into the Olympics and bring a gold medal. And to tell everyone Indonesia is friendly, kind and fun," Leonardo said. “It would be really good for Indonesia and we are optimistic.”
China's Wang Xinshang wrapped up the Top 3. The 18-year-old went under the five-second mark for the first time to fend off Ukraine’s Yaroslav Tkach and his signature explosive starts.
Despite his fourth-place finish, Tkach was in celebration mode in Shanghai. Coming in as the world No.20, the Ukrainian sport climber left the competition as one of its biggest surprises. He advanced to the final four and took a tenth of a second off his personal best in the final when he touched the board in 5.09 seconds to Wu's 5.01.
Zhou gives hosts more reason to cheer
The women’s final was also a show of personal bests as China’s Zhou Yafei reached the top in 6.54 seconds. The 22-year-old was the second-fastest qualifier and delivered on the crowd's expectations by leading the whole final against Indonesia’s Rajiah Sallsabillah.
“I did feel nervous, yes," Zhou said after about competing in front of the home crowd. "But I tried to block out the noise that came from the spectators.
“I just thought about the action, about the things I had to do.”
Sallsabillah was ninth in qualifying, but made a feisty run for the final with a few near shaves, including beating world No.2 Natalia Kalucka by one hundredth of a second in the semi-finals.
“Focus, relax. You can do it," Sallsabillah revealed later about her self-talk during the competition. “I just focused on feeling confident, that I can do anything. Knowing that I could do very well was on top of my mind.”
Earlier in the quarter-finals, Sallsabillah also cast off Kalucka’s twin sister Aleksandra – an elimination that powered Natalia through her emotional win over Republic of Korea's Jeong Jimin in the match-up that followed right after.
“This is a very hard situation for us because I am so happy and she is very sad," Natalia Kalucka said. “Sport is sometimes very brutal for athletes. In my life, my relatives are the most important thing and my sister is very important for me. She gives me power in the competition.”
The Polish star faced China’s Niu Di in the small final. While Niu had the better start, the 2023 overall speed climbing World Cup winner successfully caught up and smashed the board first in 6.67 seconds.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation. Click here to view the qualification system for each sport.
You can watch the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Shanghai from 16 to 19 May live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.
OQS Shanghai sport climbing speed finals – Results
Men
- Veddriq Leonardo (INA)
- Wu Peng (CHN)
- Wang Xinshang (CHN)
Women
- Zhou Yafei (CHN)
- Rajiah Sallsabillah (INA)
- Natalia Kalucka (POL)