CHAMONIX! 1st WCL 11-13 JULY

Finally!! the lead world cup started as well.
In the men's is the veteran Usobiaga who dominates the comp, showing once again he's the strongest, after his recent excellent victory at the world championship in china.
Some new faces in the final and luckely many young faces as well!
japanes Amma earns the second place and young austrian Lama is third.
Many frenchemen as usual were competing, with good overall results and two athletes in the final.
then, will german Tauporn take the legacy of the mythical Bindhammer brothers? We will see.
In the women's, the best three get the same hold so the podium comes out from the semi's ranking, with Ernst who wins, strange but true! :)

A question: could someone explain us why it's not possible anymore to watch the world cup comps in streaming? can IFSC afford to lose aficionados? We seriously doubt so.

Ranking men

Ranking women

YOU TUBE related video

CLIMBING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, Xining 30-5July

Here you are, the world champions!

LEAD MEN (complete result)
1. USOBIAGA Patxi (ESP)
2. ONDRA Adam (CZE)
3. ANMA Sachi (JPN)

LEAD WOMEN (complete result)
1. ERNST Johanna (AUT)
2. KIM Jain (KOR)
3. VIDMAR Maja (SLO)

BOULDERING MEN (complete result)
1. RUBTSOV Alexey (RUS)
2. GELMANOV Rustam (RUS)
3. BARRANS David (GBR)

BOULDERING WOMEN (complete result)
1. ABRAMCHUK Yulia (RUS)
2. SHALAGINA Olga (UKR)
3. STOHR Anna (AUT)

SPEED MAN (complete result)
1. ZHONG Qixin (CHI)
2. NIGMATULIN Alexandr (KAZ)
3. NOVIKOV Ivan (RUS)

SPEED WOMEN (complete result)
1. HE Cuilan (CHI)
2. HE Cuifang (CHI)
3. LI Chunhua (CHI)

5th WCB IN EINDHOVEN (NED) 12-13 JUNE

(Photo by www.federclimb.it)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Fischhuber (AUT) and Noguchi (JAP) are the winners of the 2009 WCB!
Congratulation from climbingcomps!




2009 WORLD CUP MALE PODIUM
1) FISCHHUBER (AUT)
2) GELMANOV (RUS)
3) MORONI (ITA)

2009 WORLD CUP FEMALE PODIUM
1) NOGUCHI (JAP)
2) STOHR (AUT)
3) GROS (SLO)

It's time to wave goodbye to the 2009 bouldering world cup!
Fischhuber confirm to be the best, with his strong fingers around the cup noone could take it from him.
Big surprise with the final victory of young and talented Noguchi, winning also the Eindhoven event, for a total of 3 victories over 5 comps (hardly a surprise, so!).
Great season also for russian Gelmanov, who clearly demonstrated that he is well capable of winning the final title, and italian Gabri Moroni with an absolutely unpredictable second place at Eindhoven that meant the final bronze medal!
Stohr could nothing but capitulate in front of Noguchi, who has been clearly better during the whole season, while Gros managed to get a final bronze medal with a solid season of costant good results.

LF&RB

MEN RANKING

WOMEN RANKING

VIDEO OF THE FINAL

INTERVIEW! (JUNE 5, 2009)

GARETH "GAZ" PARRY (ENG)

It's quite surprising to see such a mature competitor among very young athletes, what do you think motivates you so much to keep training and competing at a very high level?
I just love climbing really, all aspects. It's wonderful to enjoy the exciting locations and the beautiful places but i also relish the move. Hence i love plastic too. I like to be challanged. At the moment my main challange is building a straight wall at my new home in Spain. I have moved to Oliva near gandia in the Costa Blanca. mainly for the lifestyle and the sun.

22 years of climbing on your shoulders, a few competitors weren't event born when you started! What do you think about the young generation? who do you think has the best chances to win this year's bouldering world cup?
Experience is a fantastic asset, and i have lots. Kilian is still the one to beat but every year it gets harder and harder. With the likes of Ondra around and some of the other great youngsters out there the depth of good climbers in a world cup is for ever expanding. My money is for Kilian and Anna retaining the titles, if you cut them in half they would say competitor through their middle.

We know that recently you've been on a long road trip with James Pearson and Keith Bradbury, sponsored by The North Face to climb 20 of the most important 8a routes in Europe. Do you think you could go on a similar road trip but for competing all over Europe? And if not why?
yeah, I would love to do that, next year maybe when I have settled with the house i will have time to refocus on competitions again and at 37 I don't think i am too old to do well.

GAZ WINNER AT ARCO ROCK MASTER 2007

www.gazparry.co.uk
www.epic-adventures.eu

4th WCB IN VAIL (Colorado, USA) 5-6 JUNE

SURPRISES!!
It was easy to predict a strong performance from the yenkees, almost absent from every other WCB event, and there they are!
First and second place in the women's with gold for power house Alex Puccio and silver for Alex Johnson (it must have been the names?) and 3 out of 4 finalists in the mens event (steel fingers Woods second, titanium fingers Robinson fourth, young powerful Owen fifth). Victory goes to german Baumann, with Fischhuber third.
Congratulations to Baumann for his first WC victory!
Noguchi and Stohr are third and fourth in the women.
Now with only one event to go, victory is a private affair between Gelmanov and Fischhuber, with Baumann (on a high) franchmen Glairon Mondet and italian Moroni ready to give battle for the last place on the final podium.

Noguchi has her hands almost on the final victory with Stohr just there. Third place is open for many competitors.

LF & RB

WOMEN RANKING

MAN RANKING

YOUTUBE VIDEO

3rd WCB IN WIEN (AUSTRIA) 29-30 MAY

THE RUSSIANS!
Great atmosphere and great show for the 3rd leg of WCB 2009. Gelmanov gets the gold in the men's final, while Balakireva surprise everyone (maybe herself also?) winning in front of Noguchi and Stohr. Excellent results also for Sean McColl (Canada), second, while "Killer" Fischhuber has to be satisfied with 3rd.
Good effort for british Dave Barrans, for gaining a well deserved final, and the same had to say for italian Jenny Lavarda.
A simple glimpse at the final results make very clear that nothing is written yet, and even getting to the semis demands full concentration and little bit of luck!

Rustam Gelmanov is now leading the world cup. The Japanese Noguchi is still first in the female field.

Congrats to the organizations for the welldone you tube videos!

LF & RB

VIDEOS

MAN RANKING

WOMAN RANKING

WAITING FOR THE 3rd WCB IN WIEN (AUSTRIA) 29-30 May

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE COMP

This third WCB event will be crucial for top class athletes..
although in the female field the battle is among Noguchi and Stohr, nothing is decided for the men, where we have 4 climbers in only 12 points (click here to see the WCB ranking).