Shauna wins again to take home her third gold medal this season and her fourth consecutive win after dominating in the latter stages of the competition in Chongqing, China. Another sterling effort from the GB Climbing Team during the third round of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup with the whole team making if through to semis.
Our bouldering superstars can enjoy a little more respite after the competition in China concluded the series of back-to-back rounds three weekends in a row. Over in Chongqing, the GB Climbing Team battled with hot and humid conditions, despite the round taking place in the earlier, cooler part of the year.
Leah Crane comments: “The temperature and humidity really makes this round hard to compete at, something that's so hard to see from any photos or videos.”
Even with the high temps, 100% of the GB Climbing Team made it through to semis and BMC ambassador Shauna Coxsey continued her streak of exemplary performance to take first place in the last two stages of the competition, emphatically proving that she's the well-deserved winner.
We give our biggest and most heartfelt congratulations to Shauna and the rest of the GB Climbing Team.
Commenting on her performance, Shauna said: "This round was hard. It was so hot and insanely humid. It really is hard to stay focused and motivated in these conditions. I'm so happy that I was able to remain composed and stay psyched. Akiyo kept the pressure on until the end so I had to keep it together if I wanted to win!"
Qualifiers and semis
It was amazing to see all four of the GB Climbing Team make it through to the semi-finals. With four flashes, Shauna was in second place behind Melissa Le Neve's five tops coming into the semis, while Tyler Landman edged into the group with three tops out of five.
Leah said: “It's so nice to have a strong GB Team representing out at these comps. All four of us have made every semi-final this year so far.”
Next up was a hard semi-finals round, where two tops bought you a place in the finals in both the men's and women's. Shauna topped three of the blocs to put her in first place, while Melissa Le Neve painfully missed out on the final by coming in seventh position.
Shauna was the only woman to top the fourth problem, while only Japan's Miho Nonaka did the second bloc. Meanwhile, nobody managed to get even to the bonus hold of the men's third problem, effectively making it a semi-final of three blocs.
Michaela Tracy managed one top in two attempts and all four bonuses to earn her 10th place, Leah Crane came in 17th with four bonuses from four attempts, and Ty Landman ended up in 15th place from three bonuses. Congrats all round on another great performance from a tricky round.
Leah Crane comments: "The semi final round out here in China felt like the hardest yet due to the heat and slippery volumes and holds. Friction was at a definite low!"
Listen to Liam Lonsdale’s semi-final summary:
Finals
There was impressive climbing on a set of problems that at times looked to be deceptively doable. With no female managing to top the second bloc of the final, and both Shauna and Japan's Akiyo Noguchi sending three of the four problems, the winner would be decided on the number of attempts taken.
Leah said: "For the girls, a running slab was the main bloc to separate gold and silver. Akiyo did this bloc on her seventh go, while Shauna topped it on her third.
"Shauna flashed bloc three with a heroic last move and stuck the huge one arm dyno of the last bloc on her third attempt, putting her overall score at three tops in seven, a whole five attempts ahead of Akiyo. The rest of the girls put up a good fight but Japan's Miho Nonako took bronze with one top in three attempts."
BMC ambassador Shauna Coxsey is now one of only a few to have won gold in four consecutive attempts, the previous woman to do so was reigning champion Akiyo Noguchi.
The men's finals also entertained the crowd by being incredibly close. It was the first final of the season for top-ranked Jan Hojer, who topped two problems to gain the Silver medal. But he was nearly bumped down to bronze by Jongwon Chon of Korea, who was agonizingly close to matching the last hold of the final bloc.
But with three tops, the gold medal for the guys went to 19-year-old Tomoa Narasaki of Japan, his first gold of his World Cup career and another gold for the Japanese team.
Commenting on Tomoa's performace, Leah said his "impressive display of power, strength and bounce, being a very dynamic, graceful climber," helped earn him the gold.
Team Japan took home a medal of every colour, earning them third position overall in the team results. The GB Climbing Team sits in second place overall, just behind France who remains in first place. The next round is scheduled for Mumbai, India.
Leah concludes: "We appreciate all the words of support we get while out on the circuit. We hope our good performances will continue!
"Mumbai in India is next up, where Shauna and myself with be representing. We have one week at home before we're back to the airport."
Women's results:
Shauna Coxsey (GBR)
Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)
Miho Nonaka (JPN)
Mei Kotake (JPN)
Karoline Sinnhuber (AUT)
Monika Retschy (GER)
Men's results:
Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
Jan Hojer (GER)
Jongwon Chon (KOR)
Kokoro Fujii (JPN)
Alexey Rubtsov (RUS)
Jorg Verhoeven (NED)
WATCH: Finals of 2016 Boulder World Cup Round Three in Chongqing
VIDEO
WATCH: Semi-finals of 2016 Boulder World Cup Round Three in Chongqing
VIDEO
WATCH: We Are GB Climbing
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