HUNT FLIRTS WITH SIX-SECOND BARRIER AS SPEED QUALIFICATIONS DELIVER RECORDS IN GUIYANG

Emma Hunt of the USA once again flirted with the six-second barrier as Speed qualifications at the World Climbing Series Guiyang 2026 produced a series of outstanding performances, with continental records in the women's round.

Hunt, who made history at the World Climbing Series Krakow 2026 by becoming the first woman to break the six-second barrier, topped the women's qualification ranking with a best time of 6.07 seconds. The reigning world record holder also posted a 6.09 in her four qualification runs.

Home favourites Fan Jingyue and Deng Lijuan followed in second and third. Fan clocked 6.32, while Paris 2024 silver medallist Deng stopped the clock at 6.36.

RECORDS FALL AS 20 WOMEN BREAK SEVEN SECONDS

The depth of the women's field was underlined by the fact that 20 of the 32 climbers advancing to the final round recorded times below seven seconds.

Among them was New Zealand's Helen Lee, who produced a remarkable start to her competition by setting a new Oceania record in each of her first two runs. Lee first clocked 7.50 before lowering the mark to 7.37 seconds. She eventually advanced to the finals in 28th place.

"Qualification went okay, I didn't run as fast as I did in training, but I'm happy because I've been struggling with a couple injuries, so I'm happy just to put down a clean run and a decent time," Lee said.

The four-run qualification format also presented a different challenge for the climbers, with Lee highlighting the differences in preparation compared with traditional two-lane Speed competitions.

"I think the warm-up process is different between two lane and four lanes. In a two-lane format, you would spend more time warming up on the actual thing compared to this format. So I guess it's like just a completely different strategy and technique. I can't say what my result would have been if it was two lane."

Lee will enter the finals without placing pressure on herself: "I have no expectation for tonight. Just have fun and try to get a clean run."

Germany's Nele Thomas also secured a milestone, advancing to the final round for the first time in her career. Thomas took the 32nd and final qualifying spot with 7.60.

Another continental record came from South Africa's Aniya Holder, who lowered the African record by almost a second with a time of 8.15 and finished 38th.

ZHAO LEADS CONSISTENT MEN'S QUALIFICATION

In the men's competition, China's Zhao Yicheng set the pace with a 4.64-second run. The men's world record holder was remarkably consistent across his four qualification races, recording four times under 4.80 seconds.

Zhao's teammate Chu Shouhong, gold medallist at Guiyang 2025, finished second with 4.73, while USA's Sam Watson took third with 4.79.

The battle for the final qualifying places was equally tight. South Korea's Kim Dongjun secured the 32nd and final spot with 5.283 – just 0.004 seconds faster than neutral athlete Petr Zemliakov.

Canada's Ethan Pitcher advanced in 23rd place with a 5.205, but felt that there was still more to come from his performance.

"I definitely feel like I held myself back a little bit. I didn't do my proper beta. So hopefully I can just whip it out in the final and they won't expect it. It'll be like a secret weapon," Pitcher said. "Normally I don't grab hold 14, that's kind of been a problem for me lately, but assuming I do my proper beta, I think I can make some magic happen."

FOUR RUNS, MORE OPPORTUNITIES

The four-run qualification format, which gives athletes more opportunities to produce their best time, was welcomed enthusiastically by Pitcher.

"I love having four qualification races. It's so much better, so much better, because like I've had times where like the best time in my competition was my first practice run and it's like, 'oh, shoot, now it's over'. I think it's a great change. It absolutely makes the competition more fun."

The Canadian also highlighted the impact of the format on the rhythm of the competition: "You do your runs faster so you don't have to warm up for crazy amounts of time. It just kind of makes everything like feel better."

NEXT UP

With the qualification rounds complete, the top 32 men and women will return for the finals, starting tonight t 19:30 (UTC+8:00).

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