Hear from the climbers at the World Climbing Series event in Wujiang, China
LEAD FINALS
Annie Sanders, USA
“I knew it was pretty close. I kept looking down at the time and waiting it out as I had to try and get back as much [energy] back as possible, and I’m glad I did.”
“I wasn’t entirely sure I finished in the time limit, and wasn’t sure if I had won or not, but once I saw the score I realised and got super overwhelmed.”
“It was a slow and static route and honestly, I was a bit nervous, so I was over gripping a lot. But like I said, I got a bit back right at the top and it paid off.”
Janja Garnbret, Slovenia
"I don’t know what happened. I felt solid and I thought I was going to do it. I don’t know. Some people were saying I was short roped because my body was in the right position and my hands were in the right position, everything was right, but I just felt short. Maybe I was short roped or maybe I just misjudged the last hold, either way I knew I should have done it."
Chaehyun Seo, South Korea
"I felt I could have done more, but I was a bit tired during the whole competition. I think I did quite well in a hard position. I’m disappointed I couldn’t make the top part of the route, but it’s ok."
Neo Suzuki, Japan
“I’m satisfied with the result, but my performance in the final wasn’t good enough for me. I need to train harder.”
“I want to get three gold medals, and all podiums at the World Climbing Series this year.”
Alberto Ginés López, Spain
"I can’t be disappointed today because Neo was so strong, he deserved the win. I have to be the best loser ever on the circuit. I want to check the stats and see if there is someone who has more finals with no victories than me."
Dohyun Lee, South Korea
"To be honest my climbing was bad. But I have to be satisfied because I got on the podium. If I do my best climbing, I think I could have gone higher, but I just felt uncomfortable. I know my weaknesses and I have to train more. Theres some really strong guys in the competition and I really respect them."
LEAD SEMI-FINALS
Annie Sanders, USA
“I’m extremely happy. I felt I paced it out quite nice which I haven’t done in the past and it saved me a lot of time in the head wall and be patient.
“I was expecting one or two other girls to top the route, I don’t know, the last move was super hard though.”
Victor Guillermin, France
While waiting for others to climb to see if he would make the final:
“The kneebar was very useful. It felt like I was doing two routes instead of one big route. It allowed me to rest, really breathe and get back some endurance because I felt I had no arms on the wall.
“If other climbers find the kneebar I don’t think I will make it through to the final, if they don’t and they just keep going and going, then I have a chance.”
LEAD QUALIFICATION
Janja Garnbret, Slovenia
“I thought qualification was too easy. It got hard in maybe the last four or five moves, but I think tomorrow is another day and I think semis and final will be harder, and I hope I can show my best there.”
“Having qualis and semis the same day, it’s a very long day. Today I wake up at 5.45am, then you start warming up around 7am and if you also have semis in the same day, you may not finish until around 11pm; that’s a very long day. So, I prefer semis and final on the same day.”
Giovanni Placci, Italy
"The round was pretty hard so I did everything I could. I don’t think I could have done much more than I did. The first event of the year I never know what to expect. Every year feels like the first time competing."
PRE-EVENT
Alberto Ginés López, Spain
“I’m feeling pretty good, I feel like this can be a good season for me.”
“I have been training at home during the off-season, and have been combining it with some rock climbing that I missed a bit in the past few years.”
“My goal is mainly to keep that consistency across the whole Series, and hopefully improve the results from last year…”
“I think it will be similar to last year, plus some European climbers that I think are coming up pretty strong.”
“I think the trajectory has been more toward a classical bouldering style. Not so much every single boulder being some sort of coordination, or really complicated to figure out. I think we’ll see some straightforward, hard Climbing this year, and I think it’ll be exciting for everyone to participate and to watch!”