Speed climber Reza Alipour was victorious in the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria, on Friday as he climbed a 15 meter high wall in 5.63 seconds.
In a thrilling competition Alipour was able to prevail over other rivals. The silver medal went to Bassa Mawem of France and Stanislav Kokorin from Russia took bronze, the official website of the games wrote.
Title defender Marcin Dzienski from Poland had to leave the competition in the 1/8 finals. Vice world champion and record holder Alipour, who did not have his best season until the finals, was in good condition just in time for the highlight of the season.
In the quarterfinals the five times world champion Chinese Qixin Zhong and Mawem were able to demonstrate, with times of 5.70 seconds and less, that they are a force to reckon with.
In the semifinals Alipour and Mawem triumphed. By then it was clear that there would be a new world champion. Alipour was able to secure gold in an extremely close duel.
Mawem had a close lead until the very end. He slipped at the last foot hold and missed the final pad.
“I injured myself a couple of weeks ago, which is the reason why I wasn’t able to show my best runs. Therefore, I am even happier, that I still managed to get a title. The mood and the competition were simply perfect”, the Iranian said afterwards.
More than 3500 spectators came to the Olympiaworld Innsbruck complex to watch the speed climbing showdown. The 16 fastest male and female athletes fought in 4 challenging rounds over the highly coveted world champion title.
During the IFSC World Cup Nanjing in April 2017 in Nanjing, China, Alipour set a new world record; scaling a 15-meter wall in 5.48 seconds, and shattering the previous record of 5.60 seconds held by Ukraine’s Danyil Boldyrev.
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