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McColl Finishes 7th in Chamonix Lead World Cup

Chamonix Lead World Cup 2019. Photo courtesy of IFSC

The Chamonix World Cup had a bit of everything, from tight races and low falls, to expected wins and shocking misses.

The biggest surprise of the event, of course, was that Janja Garnbret didn’t make finals, prompting the now common refrain: “She’s human after all.” With Garnbret out of the running, the door was wide open for someone else to take the Gold. Any of the finalists had a shot, but in the end it was the runner up to Garnbret from the Villars World Cup who won for the women in Chamonix: Chaehyun Seo.

Unfortunately for spectators, just like last week’s women’s Finals, the top competitors were falling in the same place. In fact, four other women shared Seo’s high point (34+). One such climber was Jessica Pilz, who arguably had control of the hold (35) but was not awarded it by the judges (even after an appeal). Thus the podium was determined by countbacks, with Pilz in third, YueTong Zhang in second and Seo in first.

Sean McColl in Chamonix, 2019. Photo courtesy of IFSC

Canadians were stoked to see Sean McColl in Finals. He climbed so well in Semis and looked off to a great start on the final route as well. Sadly, it didn’t pan out as well as it could have for McColl, with a relatively low and unexpected fall. This is the name of the game in Lead Finals, however, and McColl is moving up the leader board at each event so far, and there’s another one around the corner.

The podium for the men was filled with familiar faces, and watching these three competitors climb was impressive, as always. As the first climber out, Alex Megos’ high point might have made route setters nervous but there was no need to fret, no one other than Adam Ondra was able to get past it. Jakob Schubert came amazingly close, but not quite enough. It was a perfect spread of cascading falls for the men, with Ondra’s near-top for the win at the end.

Men’s Lead Podium

1. Adam Ondra (CZE)
2. Alex Megos (GER)
3. Jakob Schubert (AUT)

Canadian Results
7. Sean McColl
37. Lucas Uchida
65. Guy McNamee
82. Sean Faulkner
99. Kindar McNamee

Alannah Yip in Chamonix, World Cup 2019. Photo courtesy of IFSC

Women’s Lead Podium

1. Chaehyun Seo (KOR)
2. YueTong Zhang (CHN)
3. Jessica Pilz (AUT)

Canadian Results
35. Alannah Yip
62. Allison Vest
70. Rebbeca Frangos
73. Sophie Buitendyk
90. Indiana Chapman

Becca Frangos in Chamonix WC, 2019. Photo courtesy of IFSC

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