Two new winner’s faces emerged on Sunday at the ice climbing World Cup in Corvara. In a high quality difficulty climbing final Slovenian Janez Svoljšak and Korean Han Na Rai Song triumphed.
The exciting men’s duel was fought in the pouring rain. It did not take place as originally expected between Russian World Champion Maxim Tomilov and runner-up Hee Yong Park (Korea), but between Janez Svoljšak from Slovenia and Yannick Glatthard from Switzerland, two emerging talents on the international ice climbing circuit. In the end Svoljšak was the only climber who made it to the top of the demanding route.
The 22 year old Slovenian enjoyed his first World Cup victory and also became European Champion, a title that was also awarded in this World Cup event in South Tyrol. Park came third in the World Cup, while Alexey Tomilov from Russia won European Championship Bronze. The overall World Cup ranking in difficulty climbing was won by Maxim Tomilov who finished the event in Corvara in fifth place.
Rainer loses his hold in the final
The winner among the women is Han Na Rai Song. In a high quality final Petra Klingler from Switzerland and Maryam Filippova from Russia lost out to the Korean athlete. Klingler became the new European Champion, ahead of Filippova and Ekatierna Vsasova, also from Russia. Three times World Champion Angelika Rainer from Merano risked everything in the final but lost her grip and finished in 5th place in the World Cup and in fourth place in the European Championships. The World Cup overall ranking in difficulty climbing was won by Russian Maria Tolokonina. She had already won it before the event in Corvara, where she finished in 8th place after three victories.
Russia excels in speed climbing
In the speed climbing athletes must climb the 15 m ice tower as fast as possible. In this discipline the Russian athletes are in a class of their own and did not disappoint expectations. Among the men Radomir Proshchenko won on Saturday with a time of 8.29 seconds. It was his first World Cup victory; fellow Russians Egor Trapeznikov (8.77) and Pavel Batushev (8.97) came second and third. The best athlete outside Russia was Iranian Mohammadreza Safdarian Korouyeh (9.42). Overall World Cup winner in this discipline Maxim Tomilov had to content with 13th place. Among the women too, the three athletes from the country with the largest area in the world ended up on the podium. The winner was Maria Tolokonina (11.44) who won the third of fourth World Cup events in this discipline this season and who therefore also won the World Cup in this discipline. Ekaterina Koshcheeva (12.66) came second, Maryam Filippova (12.96) third. Proshchenko und Tolokonina won the European Championship in speed climbing, a title that was also awarded in the context of the World Cup in Corvara.
After the World Cup is before the Youth and Junior World Championships
The World Cup event in Corvara was again an overwhelming success. But Reinhard Graf and his many helpers cannot rest on their laurels. At the end of this week, from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 February the World Championships in the age groups U22 ,U19 and U16 will take place here.
INFO: Eisklettern
