Spanish climber Erik Noya has broken the Spanish speed record, Olympic modality, in the qualifying round for the second round of the World Cupplayed in Salt Lake City (United States), before falling in the round of 16 against the American Samuel Watson.
In the Pioneer Park of the North American town, the Galician achieved fourth position in the qualifiers after a very fast series together with the American John Brosler, setting a time of 5.685 seconds, a personal best and a new record for Spain.
“The sensations were very good, I arrived at this World Cup much calmer after having released quite a few nerves compared to the previous one, in Seoul. I felt good and very happy to have lowered the Spanish record. I am very excited. It was a main objective for this year that I achieved at the beginning of the season, in addition to getting into the final, which is also very important,” he said.
Thus, he advanced to the finals, where in the round of 16 he fell to the local Samuel Watson due to small details. A time of 7.69 allowed him to finish in ninth place, within the ‘Top 10’ of the world speed elite. “It shows that I have improved a lot, however I know that I must continue to improve when it comes to my final rounds. I feel that there are things that make me lose concentration and I take the learning of this topic in this competition. Now it’s time to work on the weak pointssince I know I have the ability to get better results in the finals,” he said.
Victory in the final went to Indonesian Kiromal Katibin, current holder of the men’s world sprint record, thanks to a mark of 5.64 seconds against the American Noah Bratschi. Previously, both Katibin and Bratschi had qualified for access to the fight for gold after two falls by Ludovico Fossali and Veddriq Leonardo, respectively.
In the female category, María Laborda achieved a 20th position with a time of 9.04 seconds, four places from the pass to the finals. A test in which Miroslaw took gold for the second consecutive World Cup event, the seventh of his career, marking the best time of his fight for the gold medal, stopping the clock in 6.93 seconds. Aleksandra Kalucka took silver, finishing nearly a second behind of her teammate with 7.83.
The current women’s sprint world champion, Natalia Kalucka, signed the third place on the podium, beating the American Emma Hunt in one of the closest heats of the night, with a time of 7.52 for the Polish climber against Hunt’s 7.58.
The IFSC Bouldering and Speed World Cup in Salt Lake City will continue this Saturday with the participation of the Olympic champion Alberto Ginés in the men’s Block qualification and Aida Torres in the Women’s Block qualification.