Aleksandra Miroslaw and Leonardo Veddriq triumph in speed event at World Cup in Seoul
An exciting day for Indonesia and Poland in South Korea as two new world records are set during the second stop of the IFSC - Climbing World Cup.
Sport Climbing
Aleksandra Miroslaw was unstoppable in the women's speed event at the IFSC - Climbing World Cup event in Seoul, Korea, on Friday (6 May).
The 28-year-old climber from Poland made history in qualification at the Jungnang Stadium, beating the world record she had set at Tokyo 2020 by two tenths of a second (6.64 seconds).
Miroslaw took that momentum into the final against USA's Emma Hunt, taking victory after stopping the clock at 6.72 seconds.
Rounding out the podium was fellow Polish climber Aleksandra Kalucka.
Bittersweet end for Katibin after world record
In the men's competition Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo walked away with his first win of the 2022 speed IFSC World Cup season.
After two false starts in the final, Kiromal Katibin had to settle for second after his fellow Indonesian took the win by hitting the pad at 6.96 seconds.
It was a bittersweet end to the day for Katibin, who in qualification claimed back the title for fastest male climber in the world.
It's the second time in less than a year that he has held the title.
The new mark of 5.17 seconds, is 0.03 seconds faster than the previous record time held by his teammate Leonardo in Salt Lake City at last year's World Cup.
It was a podium clean sweep for Indonesia after Rahmat Adi finished third.
Do you want to know more about Indonesia's rock star climbers? Here we go.
Competition format
Now that the speed event is over, the attention moves to the boulder competition which is also featured at this sport climbing World Cup event in Seoul.
When the sport made its debut at Tokyo 2020, athletes had to compete in boulder, lead and speed. But that combined format will not be the case at Paris 2024. Instead there will be two separate competitions. The speed event will have its own medals, while lead and boulder will be combined.
READ MORE: World record tumbles at speed climbing World Cup event
Schedule for the remainder of the sport climbing World Cup in Seoul
(Korea Standard Time)
Saturday, 7 May:
9:00 AM Women's Boulder qualification
3:30 PM Men's Boulder qualification
Sunday, 8 May:
11:00 AM Men's and Women's Boulder semifinals
5:00 PM Women's Boulder final
Followed by Men's Boulder final