Khalkevych in the hunt for a senior series win
Polina Khalkevych has stepped up into the senior circuit like she has been competing at the level for years, and the Ukrainian is still in with a chance of taking the 2026 Speed title
Winning medals in Speed on the World Climbing Series isn’t a walk in the park. You need to be on form, you need to get your tactics right, you need to have a bit of luck sometimes, but Khalkevych has been near the top of the standings at most of the events this year – and considering it’s her first senior season that is an impressive feat.
Talking about her first senior season in which she currently sits second in the series rankings, Khalkevych said: “My first senior season went way better than I expected. I'm thrilled with my performances and am completely focused on what's next.”
As we said, Speed climbing can depend on many things, but there was one main factor in deciding the plan for the season for Khalkevych: “My plan depended entirely on my form. But after a strong start at the Ukrainian Championship, the next obvious goal was the first World Climbing Series event, and after that result, we planned the rest of the season.”
With a plan based on form sorted, it was time to set goals for the year: “Winning the overall title wasn't the initial plan, but now it definitely is.
This year was all about gaining experience and preparing for next season's Olympic qualifiers. Coming straight from the junior ranks, I needed as many senior starts as possible to make sure I'm mentally and physically ready for what's ahead.”
Santiago is the final event of the series, and Khalkevych has some points to catch up on USA’s Emma Hunt who sits above her in first position, so breaking the goal down to the single event Khalkevych said: "My main goal in Santiago is to deliver clean, stable runs and, of course, to contend for the overall World Climbing Series title.”
In a season that has brought many highlights including two silver medals on the World Climbing Series, what stands out for Khalkevych?
“My favorite moment was the start of the season, dropping my time from 7.1 to 6.3 seconds was a massive breakthrough. I was also thrilled to prove I could fight for the podium and stay mentally sharp in my first major international events.”
Looking at the start list for the women’s Speed there are climbers who are capable of winning a medal, and have done on many occasions, and probably the one that does stand out is Hunt who is the first woman to go under six seconds and is the current leader of the series rankings.
China as always brings a strong team with Lijuan Deng fresh off a silver at the Asian Games. Deng was beaten to gold in that competition by Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita who is also in Santiago.
Some of the Europeans who have made the trip are Olympians like France’s Capucine Viglione, Spain’s Leslie Romero Pérez and Poland’s Aleksandra Kalucka.
Fighting for top spot in the men’s overall rankings are Japan’s Ryo Omasa, China’s Yicheng Zhao and Indonesia’s Antasyafi Robby Al Hilmi – and all are in Santiago, so the competition will be fierce.
It’s not just about the three current leaders, USA’s Sam Watson and Zach Hammer have made the trip south and there is also Asian Games winner Shouhong Chu and Olympic gold medallist Veddriq Leonardo from Indonesia.
Looking at the European contingent, former world champion Matteo Zurloni of Italy is in Chile, there’s Germany’s Leander Carmanns, Austria’s Kevin Amon, Spain’s Erik Noya Cardona – the list goes on.
You even have Oceania record holder Julian David from New Zealand representing the continent with Australia’s Hayden Barton.
The Speed competition in Santiago will run over two days with the qualification rounds for both men and women on Friday 23 October and the finals for both on Saturday 24 October.
SCHEDULE (Local Time, UTC -3)
Friday 23 October
09:00 – 13:00 Women’s Lead Qualification
17:20 – 18:30 Men’s Speed Qualification
19:50 – 20:40 Women’s Speed Qualification
Saturday 24 October
09:00 – 13:30 Men’s Lead Qualification
18:00 – 19:15 Men’s and Women’s Speed finals
Sunday 25 October
09:00 – 11:30 Men’s and Women’s Lead Semi-final
18:00 Women’s Lead final
19:00 Men’s Lead Final
News and updates about the World Climbing Series Salt Lake City 2026 will be available on the World Climbing website, and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
