Sabato 17 e Domenica 18 luglio si svolgerà a Briançon la 4 prova di Coppa del mondo lead, l'ultima prima dei giochi Olimpici di tokyo.

Mentre gli atleti olimpici Laura Rogora, Ludovico Fossali e Michael Piccolruaz sono impegnati presso il centro federale di Arco di Trento per l'ultima simulazione di combinata Olimpica prima della partenza per tokyo,  Il Direttore Sportivo Davide Manzoni, in accordo con il Direttore Tecnico Tito Pozzoli e con il DT della squadra Nazionale Senior Luca Giupponi, convoca per la competizione Francese i seguenti atleti:

PROGRAMMA DI GARA:

Sabato 17 luglio
9:00 AM ʹ 4:00 PM Men and Women Lead Qualifications
5:00 PM Men and Women Lead semi-finals isolation
Zone opens
6:30 PM Men and Women Lead semi-finals isolation
Zone closes
7:00 PM Observation Men
7:10 PM Observation Women
7:30 PM ʹ 10:00 PM Men and Women Lead Semi-finals

Domenica 18 Luglio
5.30 pm Women and Men Lead finals isolation Zone
opens
6.30 AM Women and Men Lead semi-finals isolation
closes
7.30 PM Athletes Presentation and observation time
followed by Men Lead final
8.30 PM Women Lead Final
Followed by Awarding Ceremony

The last dance before the big dance: the IFSC World Cup in Briançon, France, will be the final competition of the 2021 Sport Climbing season before the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will officially open on 23 July, with the Opening Ceremony.

Only one of the 40 climbers that are going to compete in Japan from 3 to 6 August – Spain’s Alberto Gines Lopez – will compete in Briançon, using every available competition on the IFSC calendar to prepare for the Games.

Gines Lopez, a Lead finalist in Innsbruck, Austria, and Villars, Switzerland, earlier this year, will be among the favourites for a spot on the podium, along with Italy’s Stefano Ghisolfi – two-time Lead silver medalist in 2021 – Slovenia’s Domen Skofic – silver medal winner in Briançon in 2020 – and United States’ Sean Bailey, who already won gold in both Villars and Chamonix, France.

In the women’s event, all eyes will be on Aleksandra Totkova of Bulgaria, who secured the first medal of her career only a few days ago in Chamonix, and Natalia Grossman of the USA – who currently carries the record for the most World Cup medals won during the 2021 season – six.

After being the host city of the sole IFSC World Cup organised in 2020, Briançon now holds the record of 11 world cups organised in as many years.

The roll of honour from 2011 to 2020 in Briançon includes:

• 2011: Jakob Schubert (AUT), Maja Stremfelj (SLO);
• 2012: Sachi Amma (JPN), Hélène Janicot (FRA);
• 2013: Ramón Julian Puiglablanque (ESP), Jain Kim (KOR);
• 2014: Sachi Amma (JPN), Jain Kim (KOR);
• 2015: Gautier Supper (FRA), Jain Kim (KOR);
• 2016: Domen Skofic (SLO), Janja Garnbret (SLO);
• 2017: Romain Desgranges (FRA), Janja Garnbret (SLO);
• 2018: Alexander Megos (GER), Janja Garnbret (SLO);
• 2019: Hidemasa Nishida (JPN), Chaehyun Seo (KOR); and
• 2020: Adam Ondra (CZE), Laura Rogora (ITA).

While the three previous Lead World Cup competitions held in 2021 saw the victories of:

• Innsbruck: Jakob Schubert (AUT), Janja Garnbret (SLO);
• Villars: Sean Bailey (USA), Janja Garnbret (SLO); and
• Chamonix: Sean Bailey (USA), Laura Rogora (ITA).

The men’s and women’s semi-finals will be live streamed on the IFSC YouTube channel, starting tomorrow at 7:30 PM (UTC+2:00). The men’s final – followed by the women’s one – is scheduled to take place on Sunday, also from 7:30 PM.

News and updates about all IFSC competitions are available on the IFSC website and on its social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.