Usobiaga, Kim Take Gold in Lead in Korea

8/30/10 - Spaniard Patxi Usobiaga and Korean Jain Kim topped the men's and women's podium in lead climbing this past weekend at the World Cup in Chuncheon, Korea. Winning gold for the men and women in speed climbing were Chinese climbers Qixin Zhong and Cuilian He, respectively.

Kim reached nine more holds than silver medalist Caroline Ciavaldini of France, and was the only woman to top out the semi-finals problem. She won the last Lead World Cup held in Xining, China. Usobiaga, who took second in lead in Chamonix, France, dominated the men's field in finals.

Kim currently ranks first in lead, followed by Slovenian Maja Vidmar and Austria's Angela Eiter. Patxi also leads the rankings in speed, with Czech climber Adam Ondra and Austrian Jakob Schubert in second and third.

Final Results

Women's Speed

1. Cuilian He (China)
2. Ksenia Alekseeva (Russia)
3. Xuhua Pan (China)
4. Yuliya Levochkina (Russia)
5. Edyta Ropek (Poland)
6. Alina Gaydamakina (Russia)

Men's Speed

1. Qixin Zhong (China)
2. Evgeny Vaytsekhovsky (Russia)
3. Libor Hroza (Czech Republic)
4. Stanislav Kokorin (Russia)
5. Artyom Devyaterikox (Kazakhstan)
6. Sergey Sinitsyn (Russia)

Women's Lead

1. Jain Kim (Korea)
2. Caroline Ciavaldini (France)
3. Angelia Eiter (Austria)
4. Natalija Gros (Slovenia)
5. Yana Chereshneva (Russia)
6. Muriel Sarkany (Belgium)

Men's Lead

1. Patxi Usobiaga (Spain)
2. Ramon Julian Puigblanque (Spain)
3. Sachi Amma (Japan)
4. Adam Ondra (Czech Republic)
5. David Lama (Austria)
6. Jakob Schubert (Austria)

For full results, please visit ifsc-climbing.org.