Published April 11, 2005 09:17AM
Sandrine Levet won her second World Cup in a row while Jérôme Meyer narrowly won the men’s crown for a French sweep of the Moscow Bouldering World Cup. Levet, the two-time overall World Cup champion in bouldering, climbed one more problem than Anna Stör of Austria, a 16-year-old who was fourth in her only previous World Cup. Russian hopeful Olga Bibik, currently ranked second in the world in bouldering, finished a disappointing 10th. Meyer, who was third in this year’s first World Cup, in Birmingham, England, narrowly beat the Italian Christian Core for the victory in Moscow. Both men only completed two of the six problems in the final round, with Meyer needing two fewer tries. The veteran star Salavat Rakhmetov, 37, put on a good show for the home crowd, finishing fourth. Mark Croxall, the Brit who won the Birmingham World Cup, managed only 31st place in Moscow. Russians dominated the Speed World Cup in Moscow as expected, filling all three podium positions in both men’s and women’s speed climbing. Evgueni Minatchev won the men’s comp, and Anna Saoulevitch took the women’s laurels. The next Bouldering World Cup is in June in Italy, while the lead-climbing World Cup season kicks off in two weeks in Bulgaria. Men’s Bouldering 1. Jérome Meyer (FRA) 2. Christian Core (ITA) 3. Kilian Fischhuber (AUT) 4. Salavat Rakhmetov (RUS) 5. Ludovic Laurence (FRA) Women’s Bouldering 1. Sandrine Levet (FRA) 2. Anna Stöhr (AUT) 3. Emilie Abgrall (FRA) 4. Mélanie Son (FRA) 5. Maud Ansade (FRA)