The home crowd in Wujiang, China was treated to a golden double as Long Jianguo and Zhang Shaoqin took the first IFSC Speed World Cup wins of the season.

In the men’s competition Long came through a finals series that started with his opponent false starting and ending with a sub-5 gold medal match-up with first time medallist Hryhorii Ilchyshyn of Ukraine.

Long’s quickest time in the finals, a 4.81s, guaranteed his medal with a semi-final win against former world record holder Kiromal Katibin of Indonesia. A race that was so close with only 0.02s splitting the pair.

In the gold medal race, Long’s 4.88s was enough to beat Ilchyshyn’s 4.98s for the top step of the podium. After his win Long said: “During climbing I only focus on climbing, but before I am nervous, so I’m happy to win.”

That gold for Long was the third of his career after twice taking top spot in Villars, Switzerland.

Despite losing the gold medal race, Ilchyshyn still secured his first ever World Cup medal with a well-deserved silver. He came through the quarter-final with a personal best time of 5.01s before beating world record holder Sam Watson in the semi-final, and then once again lowering his PB to 4.98s in the final – which was also a national record.

Even with a first medal, Ilchyshyn still thinks there is more to come from himself and said: “I am very happy, but I still think I can get a lower time. Maybe at the next World Cup in Bali. I expected to go under five seconds, but I think I can go lower.”

The beaten semi-finalists, USA’s Watson and Katibin battled it out for bronze with the Indonesian climber taking the win 4.75s to Watson’s 5.04.

Full men’s Speed results can be found here

The women’s competition shows why we love Speed finals. Full of ups and downs, and when your personal best time doesn’t guarantee you progress to the next round. It’s one-on-one racing.

Home nation China were always in with a great shot at a Wujiang medal with ten of the 16 finalists from the country, as it turned out, it was to be a gold and bronze.

Zhang progressed through the finals series with a win against world champion Desak Dewi from Indonesia and then a semi-final against teammate and Olympic medallist Deng Lijuan who fell.

In the gold medal race Zhang kept her nerve to take the second gold of her career with a slim win over South Korea’s Jeong Jimin.

After winning the gold with a 6.32s to Jeong’s 6.37s, Zhang said: “I didn’t think about anything else other than my own climbing. I wanted to enjoy my competition and enjoy the climbing. I’m so happy that I represent my country and make them proud.”

Zhang did well to beat Jeong who was having a fantastic competition. She had qualified for finals in first place, won a tight quarter-final, and then produced a personal best and national record of 6.33s in the semi-final to beat USA’s Emma Hunt, who had just beaten Olympic gold medallist and world record holder, Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw.

Jeong was so close to taking the first World Cup gold of her career but had to settle for silver coming up against a climber buoyed by her home crowd support.

After the final Jeong said: “I’m happy but not totally satisfied as I was so close to the gold medal.”

Talking about her new South Korean record Jeong said: “I didn’t expect the record, but it is definitely more motivation going forward.”

With Deng and Hunt the beaten semi-finalists, they raced for a bronze in a tight affair. Deng came out ahead with a 6.34s time to Hunt’s 6.39s to make sure the Wujiang crowd had three medals to cheer during the Awarding Ceremony.

Full women’s Speed results can be found here

The next IFSC Speed World Cup will be held in Bali, Indonesia next weekend.

News and updates about all IFSC events will be available on the IFSC website, and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.