At the start of the international lead season in Innsbruck (AUT), Sascha Lehmann shines in a thrilling final on Friday evening and is third behind Jakob Schubert (AUT) and Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA). Alexander Megos finished 6th at the Lead World Cup in Innsbruck.
After a long World Cup break in the lead discipline, the competition in Innsbruck (AUT) was the lead specialists' first international showdown since 2019.
For Sascha Lehmann (Burgdorf BE), which this season concentrated on bouldering for a relatively long time compared to other years and only started late with lead training, it was in Innsbruck find out where it stands in comparison to the competition. And the start of the season in his favorite discipline should go perfectly for the Swiss.
For the second time on the World Cup podium
The 23-year-old from Bern showed two good qualifying rounds on the outside wall in the sweltering heat on Thursday, made it into the semi-finals in eighth and was able to gain another point on Friday to qualify for the final of the top 8 in fourth.
Unimpressed by the heavy rainfall, Sascha Lehmann climbed confidently through the final route on Friday evening as the fourth from last athlete and scored 38+ behind Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA) the second best result. Only local hero and co-favorite Jakob Schubert (AUT) then made an even stronger performance.
With a height of 47+, the Austrian Olympic qualifier secured an early home win. Because Adam Ondra (CZE), who had finished the semi-finals in first intermediate place and tackled the final route last, made an unexpected mistake after only 17 grabs, he slipped and fell back to eighth place.
For Sascha Lehmann, this meant the bronze medal and thus his second World Cup podium in his career.
The fact that I was able to crank it up again in the semifinals and final and even finish the World Cup in third place is of course very cool. It's a great starting position and gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. But it is also clear that it will not get any easier, because every competition starts again from scratch.
Sascha Lehmann
Sascha Lehmann celebrated his greatest success so far by winning the IFSC World Cup 2019 in Villars-sur-Ollon.
Janja Garnbret in a class of her own
The Slovenian placed the women Janja Garnbret once again proving their impressive dominance. She was the only athlete to reach the top on the final route and celebrated a superior victory. Made for the best Swiss result for women Anne-Sophie Koller (Biel BE), which climbed to the semi-finals and finished 15th there.
Janja Garnbret top final route at the Lead World Cup in Innsbruck
Final results at the IFSC Lead World Cup in Innsbruck
Ranking list men
| Rank | First Name | Name | Country | qualification | semi-final | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JACOB | SCHUBERT | TUE | 1.73 | 39+ | 47+ |
| 2 | STEFANO | GHISOLFI | ITA | 5.1 | 31+ | 47 |
| 3 | SASHA | LEHMANN | SUI | 11.62 | 39+ | 38+ |
| 4 | MASAHIRO | HIGUCHI | JPN | 18.97 | 34+ | 38+ |
| 5 | ALBERTO | GINES LOPEZ | ESP | 12.33 | 41+ | 37+ |
| 6 | ALEXANDER | Mego | GER | 2.83 | 38+ | 37+ |
| 7 | LUKA | POTOCAR | SLO | 21.82 | 39+ | 27+ |
| 8 | ADAM | ONDRA | CZE | 1.41 | 42+ | 17 |
| 9 | TOMOA | Narasaki | JPN | 9.25 | 31+ | |
| 10 | AO | YURIKUSA | JPN | 11.62 | 31+ |
Ranking list women
| Rank | First Name | Last Name | Country | qualification | semi-final | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JANJA | GARNBRET | SLO | 1.41 | 42+ | Top |
| 2 | BROOKE | RABOUTOU | USA | 2.83 | 36.5+ | 40 |
| 3 | AKIYO | NOGUCHI | JPN | 7.5 | 32+ | 33+ |
| 4 | VICTORIA | MESHKOVA | RUS | 10.91 | 35 | 22+ |
| 5 | MIHO | NONAKA | JPN | 13.23 | 32 | 22+ |
| 6 | RESUME | Lukan | SLO | 4.9 | 35+ | 19+ |
| 7 | LAURA | ROGORA | ITA | 2.0 | 42 | 13+ |
| 8 | LUCKA | RAKOVEC | SLO | 6.32 | 36.5+ | 13+ |
| 9 | FUTABA | ITO | JPN | 19.62 | 31+ | |
| 10 | JULIA | CHANOURDIE | FRA | 11.75 | 30+ |
The entire ranking is there www.ifsc-climbing.org.
The final in the video repeat
Next station: World Cup in Villars-sur-Ollon (Switzerland)
In just one week, the international climbing elite will have the next opportunity to collect World Cup points. In Villars-sur-Ollon, around 1 athletes from 3 nations will contest a lead and speed World Cup from July 2021st to 230rd, 29.
+ + +
Credits: Cover picture vladezumr.com, Text Customer Service