The second half of the men’s and women’s Boulder & Lead qualifications opened day two at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, China.

Differently from qualification rounds at regular World Cups and Championships, in Shanghai the 96 participating athletes had only one Lead route to climb, with points being added to their score in yesterday’s Boulder phase, and the top 20 in each event moving on to the Boulder & Lead semi-finals.

In the men’s event, Spanish climber Alberto Ginés López put on another show after performing greatly on the Boulder mats, taking first place both in the Lead ranking – with 88.1 points – and in the overall one – with 167.1.

Italy’s veteran Stefano Ghisolfi was the second best in the Lead phase, finishing with 76.1 points and climbing up to 10^th place in the overall standings, where he totalized 115.3 points.

After taking the top position in the Boulder phase, Lee Dohyun of South Korea slid down in second at the end of a 72.1-point Lead performance.

“Today was maybe seven out of 10, yesterday was nine. Today was tougher. I am a little bit tired but good, this place is really nice. I am calm, I don’t think too much,” he said. “I have a lot of energy yet. I did my best and the result is not important for me.

“It’s not a strong sport. So many people don’t know sport climbing so I want to promote it. If I go to the Olympics, I will be just happy because Olympics was my dream. Maybe my parents will be crying.”

For the men’s Lead phase complete results click here.

For the men’s Boulder & Lead qualification complete results click here.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nonaka Miho of Japan led the women’s Boulder & Lead table at the end of the Lead phase, thanks to a solid performance worth 60.0 points that took her to a total of 159.6.

Taking third place in the overall ranking was Ukraine’s Ievgeniia Kazbekova – first in the Boulder phase with 99.8 points, to which she added 39.1, for a total of 138.9. Only 0.1 points behind Kazbekova was another Japanese athlete – Ito Futaba – who paired her 99.7 Boulder points with the 39.1 she earned on the Lead wall.

“Yesterday I was happy because I almost got 100 points out of 100, but today I felt not so good because it’s warm, so the holds felt sweaty. So, it was not a good feeling today but tomorrow is semi-final,” commented Ito.

“I don’t think I can do anything to combat the heat. Maybe I have to chalk up a lot but it’s a little bit hard to hold a hold with both hand and chalk up. I just need to keep going. Maybe I have to get the stronger motivation and keep fighting.

“It’s so hard to get the ticket because our team is so strong, everyone. Miho and everyone are friends, but they are also rivals. I don’t want to get into a fight with them, it’s just a fight with the wall. I am ready for that,” she said.

For the women’s Lead phase complete results click here.

For the women’s Boulder & Lead qualification complete results click here.

Boulder & Lead events at the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai 2024 will continue tomorrow with the semi-final rounds, starting at 11:30 (UTC+8:00) with the Boulder phase, and concluding at 15:30 with the Lead one.

The Olympic Qualifier Series is composed of two legs, the first one in Shanghai from 16 to 19 May, and the second one in Budapest, Hungary, from 20 to 23 June. Every competition round at the OQS will be streamed live on Olympics.com.

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

For a comprehensive list of quotes from the event click here.