Yesterday, Sunday, the lead final for women and men took place in Innsbruck. In the men's category, the Swiss Sascha Lehmann won gold, in the women's category it was once again the Slovenian Janja Garnbret who stood on top of the podium.
The alpine town of Innsbruck not only created a good atmosphere, but also a top placement for the Swiss athlete Sascha Lehmann. Already in the semifinals he convinced with his performance, he reached the final with 43+ points ahead of the local hero Jakob Schubert (43), the Japanese Masahiro Higuchi and Taisei Homma and the German Alexander Megos.
The expectations of the Swiss were correspondingly high before the final. With a 44+, Alexander Megos quickly set a high point in the final that the following athletes did not reach. At 42+ it was over for Schubert, Anraku, Schalck and Co. But then Sascha Lehmann came along. He climbed dynamically, solidly and resolutely, continuously shaking and pulling towards the Megos highpoint.
At the point where all the other top athletes had to stop, Lehmann passed and only fell at the same point as Megos. Thanks to his first place in the semifinals, Lehmann snatched the gold medal from the German.
Janja also in Lead Back in Business
The women's semi-final was dominated by the Japanese Ai Mori (46+), the Korean Chaehyun Seo (46+) and the Slovenian Janja Garnbret (46). All three athletes reached more or less the same climbing spot, but how will it come out in the final? Since noon yesterday, there has been certainty: Janja Garnbret is more than back in business. In the final she climbed around the ears of all opponents and left second-placed Ai Mori behind with a deficit of 6 points.
Highlights of the semifinals
That might interest you
Do you like our climbing magazine? When launching the climbing magazine Lacrux, we decided not to introduce a paywall because we want to provide as many like-minded people as possible with news from the climbing scene.
In order to be more independent of advertising revenue in the future and to provide you with even more and better content, we need your support.
Therefore: Help and support our magazine with a small contribution. Naturally you benefit multiple times. How? You will find out here.
+ + +
Credits: Cover photo IFSC Jan Virt | IFSC