Hey,
Covering the World Cup in Chamonix ran away from me a little bit, so this newsletter is a day late. Thanks for bearing with me.
I had planned to look at the size of locations where World Cups have been held over the years. I was motivated by the World Cup happening this week, moving from Briançon, which has hosted World Cups for 14 years, to Madrid for the first time ever.
Chamonix is the only remaining “mountain town/village” that hosts World Cups. It only has a population of around 10,000, but over the summer that grows to 130,000 at its peak.
This year saw an estimate of 18,500 people watching the Lead Final on Sunday. The attendance wasn't just big for the Lead final: every round had more people watching than last year. Even the Speed Qualification round on Friday night was packed full of people.
Briançon had a new permanent wall created in 2023, and it came as a surprise to some that Briançon had been replaced by Madrid. The move is part of the IFSC's strategy to shift Sport Climbing from a mountain sport to an urban one.
I will have time next week to dive deeper into the data, so expect some graphs.
News + Results
- Sam Watson won his 5th Speed World Cup medal in Chamonix. He is now joint 7th in all-time rankings of gold medal winners.
- Aleksandra Miroslaw won her 14th Speed World Cup medal. She is now only 1 medal behind Anouck Jaubert's record of 15 Speed World Cup gold medals.
- Chaehyun Seo and Sorato Anraku both won their 6th Lead World Cup gold medal. Chaehyun's win moves her to within 80 points of Erin McNeice in the Lead World Cup series ranking. The series is becoming a 2 horse race between Erin and Chaehyun. Sorato's win moves him up into joint 9th in the all-time list of World Cup gold medalists.
- While watching the Speed Qualifications, I wondered whether athletes are faster on their first or second run, so I dived into the data.
- At the Chamonix World Cup, Anja Köhler became the Brazilian first woman to reach a Lead World Cup semi-final in 19 years. I had the chance to ask her a few questions about the experience.
- Three years before the start of the LA2028 Olympic Games, the organising committee has announced a first look at the competition schedule. Sport Climbing is set to be held over 6 days on Long Beach from 24 to 29 July.
- This weekend we return to Spain for the first time in 14 years for the Madrid Lead World Cup. Madrid will also be Jain Kim's first World Cup of the year. She won the last World Cup in Spain in Barcelona back in 2011, sharing the win with Mina Markovič and Angela Eiter.
Schedule
Friday 18th July
08:30 – 16:00 Lead Qualifications
20:30 – 22:45: Lead Semi-final
Saturday 19th July
20:30 – Women's Lead Final
21:30 – Men's Lead Final
Media Recommendations
Jinni Xia
Jinni talks with Carl McNeice, Erin McNeice's father, about how he and his wife supported Erin's competition climbing career.
Skip to Content
Kris Hampton interviews Alan Watts about route setting at the 1988 World Championship in Snowbird, Utah, and the importance of the competition in America.
After a chat about climbing films and the Mellow Rock Games, Aidan and Sam talk about how they would change the Modern Pentathlon format to be more exciting, including climbing in the format.
Erin McNeice debriefs her performances at the Prague and Bern Boulder World Cups.
Xian and Dipi try some boulders at Hang (now The Font Hounslow) and explore what it means to be “strong enough” for a climb.
Where to Buy Tickets
Madrid IFSC Lead World Cup
When: 18th–19th July
Where: Spain
Where to buy tickets: This event is free of charge, and no tickets are required for entry. You can register for a free ticket here.
IFSC Youth World Championships in Helsinki
When: 28th July–3rd August
Where: Finland
Where to buy tickets: Tickets are for:
Koper IFSC Lead World Cup
When: 4th–6th September
Where: Slovenia
Where to buy tickets: Tickets will be made available here (the ticket link currently does not work). If you are willing to go through the Slovenia ticket seller eventim (Google Translate does a good job at translating Slovenia), if you buy a finals ticket at the moment, you get a semi-final ticket for free.
Seoul IFSC World Championships
When: 20th–28th September
Where: South Korea
Where to buy tickets: Tickets will be needed for the following (all indoor events):
- Paraclimbing Finals
- Speed Qualification and Finals - Women and Men
- Lead Semi-Finals and Finals - Women and Men
- Boulder Semi-Finals and Finals - Women and Men.
All other events are free of charge. Access to the venue is limited. Entry is restricted to first-come, first-served. This platform was used last year for the Seoul World Cup.
Laval IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup
When: 23rd–26th October
Where: France
Where to buy tickets: You can buy tickets for the Para Climbing event and the Continental Speed event here.
I really enjoyed my trip to Chamonix. The crowd was amazing and it felt a bit surreal seeing Mont Blanc each morning.
I still feel I am learning how to cover World Cups. Both Innsbruck and Chamonix were useful for me to learn how to manage my time and effort before the World Championship in Seoul, South Korea.
I won't be attending any of the rest of the World Cups, but I plan to go to theWorld Championship in Seoul.
What has been your favourite World Cup of the season and why? I'd love to know.
Cheers,
Rory
