Canadian Indiana Chapman Makes Worlds Finals
Ontario climber Indiana Chapman has advanced to Finals at the IFSC Youth World Champsionships in Innsbruck, Austria, in Youth B Boulder.
The week-long event had over 1,100 climbers register to compete in a number of categories. Chapman advanced to Finals in third place, behind Japanese climbers Natsukii Tani and Futaba Ito. Click to play the clip below.
Fellow Canadian Babette Roy finished in 29th in the same category. B.C. climber Kindar McNamee finished in 17th in Semis for Males Youth B Boulder.For up-to-date results see here, livestreams and photos from Shane Murdoch visit here.
Chapman started climbing when she was seven years old in Ontario. Watch this short film produced by Mitsubishi Motors where Chapman gives Dreamcatcher 5.14d a top-rope burn at 11 years old.
From the IFSC: This year, there are 1,172 athlete registrations across all categories – representing 50 countries and 5 continents – and climbing will take place for 12 days on the brand-new walls of Kletterzentrum Innsbruck.
Despite rain in the early days of the event, a large crowd turned out for the Youth A Bouldering finals at Kletterzentrum Innsbruck, also streamed LIVE for thousands of fans on the IFSC YouTube channel. The first two problems for the men saw only tops, with Filip Schenk of Italy taking an early lead with two flashes. M3 proved more challenging, requiring tricky footwork to exit a compressed start.
Keita Dohi of Japan and Bulgarian Petar Ivanov worked hard to complete all the small sequences, and Schenk again wrapped up the series on his first attempt, finding a toehook to smoothly match on the slippery final hold. The podium came down to the final problem. Dohi’s teammate Mizuki Tajima flashed for third place, requiring one less attempt to complete his three tops than Ivanov. When Dohi topped as well, Schenk needed one final top to win. He duly did so, ending the evening with a perfect score of four flashes.
The male final ran alongside an equally exciting final for the female athletes. Luiza Emeleva jumped into an early lead with the only flash of F1, which most finalists topped. The long, strenuous second problem with massive features on a steep roof stumped most of the field, but not back-to-back Youth B champion Ashima Shiraishi of the United States. She scored the sole top, and only her teammate Brooke Raboutou also reached the bonus hold.
All three athletes topped F3, and the podium again came down to the last problem. Emeleva and Raboutou secured spots on the podium with quick tops, and Laura Rogora of Italy flashed for fourth place. Last on the mats, Shiraishi flashed alongside Schenk for two superb double flashes to end the round and win the first Gold medals at Innsbruck.
In Lead, the Youth A category is stacked with formidable female athletes. New IFSC World Cup competitors Shiraishi and Brooke Raboutou of the USA and Laura Rogora of Italy all move up to Youth A this year. Rogora and Shiraishi made finals in the first IFSC Lead World Cup events of their careers at Villars and Arco, respectively, and Raboutou continues to finish on the cusp of the finals cut. They join an experienced Slovenian team led by Mia Krampl and Vita Lukan.
Nolwenn Arc of France, 15th last year at Guangzhou, has also climbed well in the IFSC Lead World Cup and returns to Youth A for a rematch. She will be joined by teammate Sam Avezou in the male competition, who won Gold the past two years in Youth B. In Juniors, expect Hayes to excel again for the female athletes, and be sure to track the progress of Yuval Shemla of Israel and American Kai Lightner for the male athletes. Lightner was runner-up last year in Youth A, and Shemla made finals at IFSC World Cup Chamonix and consistently puts forth a strong fight.
No athlete has broken the 6-second barrier at the IFSC Youth World Championships. Times continue to decrease, and the IFSC Youth World Championship current record of 6.23 seconds – set last year – may be lowered. Italian Gian Luca Zodda of Italy raced to 6.19 seconds at IFSC World Cup Arco last weekend, and Kostiantyn Pavlenko of Ukraine returns for his final year in Juniors after registering a time of 6.37 seconds last year.
For the females, Russian teammates Elizaveta Ivanova and Daria Kan registered impressive times in the clutch to win Gold last year and both athletes will compete in Juniors this year. Also follow the climbing of Russian Karina Gareeva and Elisabetta Dalla Brida of Italy in Youth A.
This year, the Combined results will be the focus. In addition to medals in Bouldering, Lead and Speed, 20 female and 20 male Youth A athletes, and 6 female and 6 male Youth B and Juniors athletes, will compete in the Combined on the last weekend. Sunday will also serve as the major qualification event for Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018, with 13 female and 13 male Youth A athletes to be recommended for selection.
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