USA's Samuel Watson and Lijuan Deng of China will both fancy their chances as the competition heats up in the latest round of the IFSC Climbing World Cup this weekend.
The first six weeks of this year's climbing World Cup have been filled with excitement. The men's bouldering and lead competition have been dominated by Japanese prodigy Sorato Anraku, while several climbers have shared the spoils in the women's events.
This week, we turn our attention to Denver, Colorado, where the world's best speed climbers are limbering up to face off in the third speed climbing event of the season.
Speed climbing is a thrilling watch, in which climbers race up a standardized wall in direct competition with the climber next to them.
Read on for our preview of the upcoming event, which includes the schedule, information on how to watch the competition, and who to look out for on the wall.
Ones to watch
Current world champion Samuel Watson will be confident of victory after setting two world records in a dominant display at the last speed event.
After a steady qualification round, the 19-year-old American raced up the wall to set a new world record time of 4.67 seconds in his semi-final. As if this wasn't enough, Watson improved on his time with a 4.64-second run in the final, winning gold and cementing his place as the out-and-out favorite in this year's competition.
Watson will be challenged in Denver by Japan's Ryo Omasa and Kiromal Katibin of Indonesia, who finished second and third in Bali, and both shone in last year's competition.
Omasa, who's also 19, notched his personal best time of 4.90 seconds in Bali and will be eager to repeat the feat this Saturday when the qualification begins.
The women's speed competition has been closely contested. Two rounds in, Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw and Lijuan Deng are locked in a tight race for gold.
Miroslaw is an Olympic champion, with years of experience and a gold medal under her belt already this season. Victory in Bali was the 13th of the 31-year-old's illustrious career, and puts her in second place behind Deng.
While she's yet to win gold this year, 25-year-old Deng snatched her spot atop the leaderboard with two consistent performances in the opening speed competitions.
Deng finished second behind Miroslaw in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She'll be keen to one-up her and snag a first gold of the year as the pair go head-to-head in Denver.
IFSC World Cup Schedule
Qualification
- 3pm PT (June 1) / 6pm EST (June 1) / 11pm BST (June 1) Men's and women's qualification
Semi-finals and finals
- 3pm PT (June 1) / 6pm EST (June 1) / 11pm BST (June 1) Men's and women's finals
What is the IFSC World Cup?
The IFSC World Cup is a year-long climbing competition that pits the world's best climbers head-to-head in lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering competitions.
It takes place over 14 different World Cup stages, held across the globe and throughout the year.
Points from each competition are tallied up, and climbers are ranked on separate leaderboards for each discipline. These rankings decide the eventual world champions.
How to watch the IFSC World Cup
There are loads of ways to watch the upcoming World Cup competition, with plenty of broadcasters and streaming services providing coverage.
Check out how you can watch where you are with our expert guide.
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