Published September 29, 2003 09:38AM
A teenager from Austria upset the defending female champions at the 17th annual Arco Rockmaster in Italy, the most prestigious invitational competition in the world. Angela Eiter, 17, was the only woman to top out in the difficulty competition, beating Muriel Sarkany, a three-time winner at Arco, and Sandrine Levet, last year’s winner. Although she is ranked eighth in the world, Eiter’s previous best result was a fourth-place finish in a World Cup. Just last week, she finished only third in her age group at the Youth World Championships in Bulgaria. Among the men, Alex Chabot of France continued his domination, winning his second Arco difficulty title. Mauro Calibani of Italy won the men’s bouldering competition, and Olga Bibik of Russia took first among the women boulderers. No North American climbers competed at Arco. Photos and complete results: www.rockmaster.com.