Ludovico Fossali, Deng Lijuan win speed climbing titles at IFSC World Cup Briançon 2024 – Results

His first-ever sub-five second time has landed Italian Ludovico Fossali a first World Cup title in seven years.

Fossali soared to a 4.97 in the men’s speed climbing final on Wednesday (17 July) evening at the IFSC World Cup Briançon 2024 in France, holding off an in form Eric Noya of Spain, who clocked a 5.06 in the other lane.

“My first sub-five… it feels pretty nice,” a grinning Fossali said on the IFSC broadcast. “I don’t look at the time on the clock, I just look at the green or the red.”

Fossali, the 2019 world champion, was green all the way through, something he said would help him “forget” the first half of the season, a reference to him falling short in qualifying for the coming Olympic Games Paris 2024.

In the women’s speed event, Deng Lijuan of the People’s Republic of China clocked a 6.41 in the final, beating Korean Jeong Jimin, who went 6.53.

It’s a sixth World Cup title for Deng, who is the lone climber of the top finishers to head to Paris later this month for the Games.

Long Jianguo of China was third in the men’s event, while Zhang Shaoquin claimed the bronze medal for the women, just days after she won gold at the World Cup stop in Chamonix.

Briançon 2024 marks the 400th climbing World Cup event in the history of the IFSC, and final stop ahead of Paris. The lead climbing takes place on Thursday and Friday (18-19 July).

Sport climbing will get underway on 5 August at Paris 2024, with the finals of speed – which will feature its own Olympic medal for the first time – scheduled for 7 and 8 August.