China 1 and Spain 1 topped the men's and women's Speed Relay qualifications, respectively, at the World Climbing Series Guiyang 2026, as the final day of competition got underway with more outstanding performances and two new Oceania records.

CHINA JUST THREE HUNDREDTHS FROM WORLD RECORD

China's Ling Yongzhi and Zhao Yicheng produced the fastest run of the men's qualification round, stopping the clock at 9.78 seconds.

The Chinese pair came within just 0.03 seconds of the current world record of 9.75, held by Zhao Yicheng and his other teammate Long Jianguo, setting up an exciting battle for the medals in the final.

Germany 1, represented by Sebastian Lucke and Leander Carmanns, qualified fourth with 10.45. Carmanns was pleased with both his performance and the conditions in Guiyang after competing in the individual Speed event earlier in the weekend.

"I felt great in qualification. The weather was way better than on Friday, I enjoyed climbing a lot today. I had a lot of fun with Sebastian, it worked out great."

The German also explained that competing alongside a teammate on the four-lane wall did not require a major change to his individual approach.

"Speaking for myself, I didn't really plan anything different. In the relay format on the four lanes, you don't really notice if anybody is next to you or not, especially for me on the right side. So, yeah, I don't feel it was any disadvantage or anything."

With a place secured in the final, Carmanns is looking for an even faster performance when the medals are decided: "For finals we just gonna run it back, try to be even faster. Hopefully enjoy it a lot."

SPAIN LEADS WOMEN'S FIELD AFTER DRAMATIC TURNAROUND

Spain 1 topped the women's qualification round through Leslie Adriana Romero Pérez and Carla Martínez Vidal, who combined for a time of 13.54 seconds.

Martínez Vidal's route to the top of the rankings was anything but straightforward. After struggling with the Tomoa move during Friday's individual competition, she entered the relay with some apprehension.

"It was super crazy. Friday, I messed up all the Tomoas, and today I was afraid of it. So I didn't do a lot of Tomoas in the warm-up area, but in the second run of practice, I did it for the first time in this competition."

Her first qualification run then appeared to compound the problem, as a mistake on the opening move left Spain at the bottom of the ranking.

"In the first run of qualification, I made a mistake on the first move, and I was, 'Oh my God, we are last... Leslie will kill me.' And in the second I said, 'Only one more run, just go and do it!' and we went from last to first!"

Martínez Vidal admitted the turnaround came as a relief, particularly after another fall during the second attempt: "I was in shock after the fall. I thought nothing could be worse than falling, to be honest. So I was happy with anything.

The Spanish climber also credited her teammate for helping her recover mentally and finish the round strongly: "Leslie gave me a lot of confidence, I really appreciate that I have her as a partner to climb with."

The women's final will feature eight teams, with only 13 teams having started the qualification round.

NEW OCEANIA RECORDS FOR NEW ZEALAND

Two new Oceania records were set during the qualification rounds, both by teams representing New Zealand.

In the men's event, Julian David and Ned Johnston clocked 12.143 seconds, lowering the previous continental record by more than two seconds.

Helen Lee and Sarah Tetzlaff followed with another record-breaking performance in the women's competition. The New Zealand pair stopped the clock at 17.16 seconds on their second attempt to establish a new Oceania benchmark.

NEXT UP

Speed Relay finals are set to close the events starting at 20:00 (UTC+8:00).

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