Raw fingers and exhausted muscles, dynamic and technical crux moves, screams of effort and tears of joy, it all returns next week at the first IFSC Climbing World Cup of 2017! The best Bouldering athletes from around the world will put their off-season training to the test in Meiringen, Switzerland.
Meiringen opened 2016 with a spectacular show at the Haslital Climbing Center, with the mountains of the Swiss Alps surrounding. This year marks the first season after Olympics inclusion for Sport Climbing, heightening the anticipation even more for the debut. How will things change? Which athletes will come back stronger than ever? Meiringen is the first test!
Answering questions
After an exciting and emotional victory at IFSC World Championships Paris last September, Petra Klingler will certainly be in the spotlight at Meiringen, climbing in front of her home crowd. Despite an injured knee, she has proven this off-season that she is still a formidable competitor. Also recovering from injury is 2016 season champion Shauna Coxsey. Last year, the British star swept the first three competitions, and this year she says she can’t wait for the World Cups. Expected to join them is Miho Nonaka of Japan, runner-up in the season rankings last year, as well as her legendary teammate Akiyo Noguchi who finished fourth.
Japan is also the team to watch for the men. Season champion Tomoa Narasaki mystified audiences all last year (especially with his victory at Paris which prevented Adam Ondra from defending the world title), and Kokoro Fujii continues to stand tall on IFSC podiums. Still, Aleksei Rubtsov of Russia left the arena wearing Gold last year, and his enthusiasm is high again this year. Also keep an eye on Switzerland’s own Baptiste Ometz, who finished 2016 on a high note with second place at IFSC Youth World Championships Guangzhou and now has a full year of experience at IFSC Bouldering events.
Sport changes
A few changes to the rules will also be introduced this year, including the reduction of climbing time to 4 minutes (flat) in Bouldering finals and 6 minutes in Lead semi-finals and finals. What a challenge for the athletes!
LIVE streaming
See for yourself how the first chapter unfolds! Tune-in to the IFSC website on April 8th for Semi-Finals at 11:00 and Finals at 18:30 (GMT+2):
www.ifsc-climbing.org
All starters, results, replays and more can be found on the dedicated event page. For the complete 2017 IFSC Climbing World Cup calendar, please click here.
Don’t forget to chat with us on Twitter during the event, by using the hashtag #IFSCwc!
IFSC WORLD CUP (B) MEIRINGEN (SUI)
Provisional Programme (GMT+2)
Friday, April 7
10:00-14:30 Qualification Men
16:30-20:30 Qualification Women
Saturday, April 8 (LIVE)
11:00-14:00 Semi-Finals Men and Women 18:30-20:30 Finals Men and Women 20:30 Awarding Ceremony
