Two more tickets for what will soon become the fastest event in the Olympic Games are set to be awarded at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Speed European Qualifier.
The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 15 September in Rome, Italy at Foro Italico – a big sport complex inaugurated in 1932, which hosted a wide range of sport events across more than nine decades, including the Olympic Games Rome 1960.
Taking place about one month after the 18th IFSC World Championships, which concluded on Saturday, 12 August in Bern, Switzerland, the Speed European Qualifier will be the first of five Continental Qualifers organised by the IFSC and part of the qualification system to Paris 2024
At Bern 2023, four climbers made history, and became the first athletes ever to qualify in the men’s and women’s Speed Olympic events: China’s Long Jinbao, Italy’s Matteo Zurloni, Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, and USA’s Emma Hunt.
In Rome, the best Speed climbers in Europe will battle for two more tickets. The men's field of contenders will include Bassa Mawem and Pierre Rebreyend of France, Zurloni’s teammate Ludovico Fossali, Marcin Dzienski of Poland, and Erik Noya Cardona of Spain.
The current world record holder in the women’s event, Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland, will headline the group of female Speed climbers competing for the coveted Olympic quota. Twin sisters Aleksandra and Natalia Kalucka, also representing Poland, will be in the mix with home favourites Beatrice Colli and Giulia Randi.
The IFSC Speed European Qualifier Rome 2023 will be a free-entrance event, with qualifications scheduled at 14:00 (UTC+2:00), and finals starting at 20:00.
News and updates about the event will be available on the IFSC event page , and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn , and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin and Weibo
Matteo Zurloni qualified for Paris 2024 at the IFSC World Championships Bern 2023Photo: Jan Virt/IFSC
