The Speed season started with a bang as home favourite Yicheng Zhao lowered the men’s world record and Poland’s Aleksandra Kalucka came back to action with a gold
Both of the Speed winners in Wujiang had their own stories. One has been waiting and itching to show what he can do, the other coming back after a self-imposed break from the heat of competition.
MEN’S FINAL
Those in the Speed world have known about 16-year-old Zhao for some time. The young Chinese climber has been posting sub-5 runs for a while now on social media. Last month he introduced himself to the world with a new world record at the Asian Beach Games.
If you didn’t know who he was before, you certainly will now as he has finally come of age to take on the World Climbing Series, and left with a world record and a gold medal.
Speed has been getting quicker, but also more consistent as more and more climbers break five seconds on a regular basis. Zhao already has both of these in his first competition.
Zhao never went over five seconds in Wujiang, and neither did USA’s Sam Watson. What’s incredible about this is that Watson won a bronze medal, because he came up against Zhao in the semi-final.
Both had worked their way confidently through their runs to set up the race everyone wanted to see. New world record holder against the man he took it from. And this race produced another world record.
Zhao clocked a 4.54s to Watson’s 4.67s. It put Zhao into the final and Watson into the bronze medal race.
It ended up being China vs China and USA vs USA for the medals as Zhao took on teammate and world champion Jianguo Long for gold and Watson raced teammate Michael Hom for bronze. Long had beaten Hom in a close semi-final – 4.67s to 4.79s – to set up the final races.
The medal races stayed with the record holders with Zhao clocking 4.61s to Long’s 5.63s for silver. Watson clocked 4.71s for bronze beating Hom who clocked 4.98s.
Talking about his first World Climbing Series event Zhao said: “There’s too many things in competition you can’t control, so I just try to focus on myself. It’s also my hometown and my home city, so I’m proud of myself and my team.”
About the world record Zhao said: “I just wanted to come here and win, that was my process. I didn’t want to think about world record. I just wanted to think about myself, stay calm and stay quiet through the competition.”
Speaking about Watson he said: “Sam is a really excellent athlete and had the record before, so I’m happy to compete with him. On the other hand, I want to focus on myself. I know I have to do my own efforts to beat him. But thank you to him, without him I cannot break the world record.”
Watson responded talking about his rival and his own competition saying: “I didn’t really give it my best. I came into this competition knowing Yicheng probably had an edge but not a gap over me. I’m impressed by his ability and definitely the best speed climbing I have seen.
“I have some immediate return on investment in so far as what I can do to get better. I’m happy to see the sport progress and see a charismatic English speaker get there. I admire him personally.”
WOMEN’S FINAL
The women’s winner had a bit of a comeback story, both overall and in the competition.
Aleksandra Kalucka missed last year after taking time out after an intense 2024, and although she knew she could run fast, she nearly didn’t get the chance to show her best.
Although being the quickest in qualification with a 6.25s personal best, Kalucka knew she could go even quicker and was aiming for under 6.1s. She managed it in her semi-final against Indonesia’s Desak Dewi with a 6.09s compared to Dewi’s 6.33s, but what was impressive was the reset in her mind after a close call in the previous round.
Kalucka slipped and nearly fell off the wall in her race with China’s Yuju Mou, but right next to her in the other lane Mou also had slipped. Mou fell from the wall, but as Kalucka held on, she just needed to get to the top which she did in 14.60s.
In the final Kalucka met Elizaveta Ivanova who had been impressive progressing from 15th in qualification all the way through to a shot at the gold after overcoming Natalia Kalucka in the semi-final.
The gold medal race was one Kalucka too far though for Ivanova as Aleksandra clocked 6.12s to her 7.62s. It did however mean a silver medal and a trip to a World Climbing Series podium.
Unfortunately for Natalia she couldn’t join her sister on the podium as Dewi won their bronze medal match up 6.17s to 6.39s.
Speaking after her win Kalucka said: “I’m super happy. I didn’t expect to win because I took a break last year and I didn’t know what to expect from the competition, but I felt so strong in the qualis. I thought I could get sub 6.10 and I did, so I am super happy.”
Explaining her year away from the racing scene she said: “After the Olympic Games I did my master’s degree and focussed on my study. I skipped the World Championships, and took a big rest, and it paid off.
“I recommend to all athletes to take a rest after a long season. I took one step back and two steps forward, and I am so proud of myself that I did it.”
After taking silver Ivanova said: “I’m proud of myself and excited because it’s been a long time since I competed. It’s a bit of a dream. I didn’t know how I would handle things physically and mentally or how I would react. But I am happy.”
RESULTS
NEXT UP
The World Climbing Series for Speed moves on to the Comunidad de Madrid on 28-31 May.
News and updates will be available on the World Climbing website and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.