KAZBEKOVA’S THREE FLASH, FOUR-TOP PERFORMANCE IS WORTH GOLD AT THE NEOM IFSC MASTERS

24 November 2023

The Ukrainian flag waved at the top of the podium in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, where the IFSC Masters awarded its second medal in the women’s Boulder event.

Ievgeniia Kazbekova put together an amazing display of climbing, flashing three of the four problems, and only taking three attempts to solve the second one. The Ukrainian 27-year-old, who recently placed fourth at the IFSC European Qualifier in Laval, France, pocketed her second career international gold after winning the Youth World Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2010.

Kazbekova said: “It feels amazing! I’m very proud with my climbing, and I had a lot of fun!

“I had a different mindset compared to the semi-final, and getting to know the format also made the difference for me, semi-final felt more like a tryout.

“I’m so happy and grateful for this Climbing community, especially in these hard times for Ukraine, while there is a full-scale war. It’s been amazing to be able to represent my country one more time this year.”

France’s Selma Elhadj Mimoune followed in second position, topping three boulders and securing four zones. Her teammate Agathe Calliet completed the medal positions, taking third place with two tops and four zones.

Placing just outside of the podium after taking first place in the semi-final, Italy’s Camilla Moroni finished fourth, being the first of three climbers to not attempt problem number four.

Giorgia Tesio, also of Italy, took fifth position, while Slovenia’s Katja Debevec placed sixth.

For the complete results of the women’s Boulder event click here

The men’s and women’s Boulder competitions in NEOM were contested in an innovative format, with no isolation imposed to the athletes, and the chance to see the Boulder problems in advance. Also, a two-minute clock was set to climb each boulder, with the athletes having up to two rounds on their hands, for a maximum total of four minutes.

The NEOM IFSC Masters will conclude tomorrow with the men’s and women’s Speed events: qualifications will commence at 17:00 (UTC+3:00), and finals at 19:20.

All the finals of the NEOM IFSC Masters will be live streamed on the IFSC YouTube channel , on Eurosport and Discovery Plus. News and updates about the event will be available on the IFSC website , and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook , Instagram , X , LinkedIn , and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin and Weibo .

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