The Records Keep Falling! Villars Speed Qualifying Round Recap!

Hey Speed fans!

Today was one of the best competitions in the history of speed climbing and it was only the qualifying round!

First, we absolutely must start with Kiromal Katibin. In his first race of the day, he had a seemingly flawless run. Flying up the wall in 5.09 it was difficult to see where time could be shaved off.

 

It's ok if we can't see where he can be faster, as he was more than willing to show us in his next run. This time completing the race in 5.04, Katibin is doing everything in his power to show the world that a sub 5 competition run is not only possible, but imminent. With his 5.09 followed by a 5.04 in the qualifying round, Kiromal has continued to prove that he is now, and for at least the immediate future, the one to beat.

 

But we would be remiss if we didn't discuss the arrival of the Chinese speed climbers to the world stage. Long Cao, Jianguo Long, and Peng Wu all placed higher than Reza, John Brosler, and former world record holder Veddriq Leonardo with times of 5.21, 5.22, and 5.32 respectively. Both of Jianguo Long's runs were under 5.3 as well. 

That sort of speed was the theme for the day, as it took a blistering 5.58 to make the knockout round. With the quality of the climbers in the finals, we may need to see world records from climbers just to advance to the next round.

The women's competition was without current record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw, but that didn't stop the speed. Today's qualifying round saw four athletes and 7 races break under the 7 second barrier. China's Di Niu (6.91) leads her teammate Lijuan Deng (6.94), followed closely by Aleksandra Kalucka (6.95)

Unfortunately the IFSC continues to not broadcast even a basic live stream of the qualifying rounds, so I am without video to share of any of the other races. Given the lower pressure and ability to have two chances at a fast race in the prelims, it's no wonder that most records have fallen in the qualifying rounds. We can only hope that they realize they are doing their fans a disservice by not showing the entire rounds.

Who is your favorite heading into tomorrow? Will we see another new world record? Leave your thoughts below!