Lee Dohyun and Seo Chaehyun placed first at the end of the two phases, leading the packs of athletes that will battle for a spot on the podium at Shanghai 2024.
Part one of the Olympic Qualifier Series is fully underway in Shanghai, China, with four exciting sports – Breaking, Climbing, Skateboarding, and BMX – taking place in the same spectacular venue, on the banks of the Huangpu River.
The third day of Climbing competition featured the men’s and women’s Boulder & Lead semi-finals, selecting the top eighth athletes in each event to compete in the final and decisive rounds.
South Korea’s Lee Dohyun once again proved to be in great shape, ending with the highest score in the Lead phase – 88.1 points – and making up for a two-top, 59.6-point performance in the previous Boulder phase. Lee concluded the semi-final in first place with 147.7 points, with another Shanghai protagonist following in second.
After topping the table in qualification, Alberto Ginés López of Spain only slid down one place, placing second with 143.2.
The highest score in the Boulder phase was recorded by France’s Paul Jenft with 79.4, followed by Czechia’s Adam Ondra with 68.9, and teammate Mejdi Schalck with 68.7.
Ondra finished the semi-final with 110.9 points, taking fifth place; Jenft closed in seventh with 109.5; while Schalck missed the cut and concluded in 10th position with 94.8.
Also advancing to the men’s Boulder & Lead final in Shanghai are Belgium’s Hannes Van Duysen, third with 116.3 points; Switzerland’s Sascha Lehmann, fourth with 113.3; Great Britain’s Hamish McArthur, sixth with 109.7; and France’s Sam Avezou, eighth with 99.8.
Lehmann said: “It was really nice out there. I didn’t have a good Boulder run. In the morning it was quite tough for me, a struggle to get those boulders together and top them out.
“For sure there was pressure on my Lead climb. I was pretty nervous. I knew Lead is my discipline, that’s where I want to make the points. I am really happy how it turned out, it was such a good run.
“I knew before the competition that I might not get that many points in Boulder. Of course, I tried my best and even better if it works out well, but I prepared myself to keep on going. I know my Lead shape is good. I know I am a good Lead climber and just tried to keep believing in my lead strengths and put this on the wall.”
For the men’s Boulder & Lead semi-final complete results click here.
The women’s semi-final opened with a high-scoring Boulder phase, where Tokyo 2020 Olympian Brooke Raboutou flirted with the perfect score, only to lose 0.2 points in the fourth and final boulder. Raboutou then added 36.1 Lead points to the 99.8 she scored in Boulder, finishing with 135.9 in second place overall.
The US climber said: “I felt really good in Boulder. I was finally able to let loose and really feel like myself out there and have a blast. It was awesome.
“I feel like I am in really good Lead shape and haven’t been able to show it yet. The nature of the routes are really hard to rest. So, I am just learning that. But I am excited to have another opportunity to really show what I’ve been working on. I am just excited to get to climb again.”
The top of the ranking was taken by another former Olympian – Seo Chaehyun of South Korea – who dominated the Lead phase and closed it with 60.1 points, for a total of 139.3 overall.
Another 60.1-point performance in Lead came from Seo’s teammate Kim Jain, who only scored 24.3 in Boulder and closed in 11th place with 84.4 points.
Also relying on a high-scoring Boulder phase, Japan’s Miho Nonaka, Ukraine’s Ievgeniia Kazbekova, and Japan’s Ito Futaba all entered the top eight, respectively in third place with 135.2 points, in fourth with 129.6, and in fifth with 128.9.
Securing the final three spots in the final list were home favourite Luo Zhilu of China, who took sixth place and scored 120.6 points; France’s Zélia Avezou, who followed in seventh with 104.7; and Great Britain’s Erin McNeice, eighth with 104.7.
For the women’s Boulder & Lead semi-final complete results click here.
The Boulder & Lead finals will be the closing event of the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai 2024 tomorrow – the men’s one starting at 10:00 (UTC+8:00), the women’s one starting at 15:25.
The Olympic Qualifier Series is composed of two parts, 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.