Lee, Ginés López, and Ondra Podium at Olympic Qualifier Series

Yesterday, the first of two Olympic Qualifier Series Boulder & Lead events came to a close in Shanghai, China. At the end of the event, Lee Dohyun of South Korea stood atop the podium in men’s Boulder & Lead. He had a very solid performance throughout the comp, placing fourth in the Boulder round and first in the Lead round. In Boulder, he didn’t top any of the four problems but he did reach three high zones and all four low zones. In Lead, he cruised the route, topping it with apparent ease. He was joined on the podium by Alberto Ginés López of Spain in second and Adam Ondra of Czechia in third.

Eight climbers faced off in the men’s Boulder & Lead final. The Boulder round came first, and it was a tough one. Adam Ondra was the only climber to top two of the four problems. Three climbers topped one problem, and the four others topped none. Ondra led the field moving into the Lead round with 64 points. He was trailed by France’s Paul Jenft in second with 49.1 points and Great Britain’s Hamish McArthur in third with 48.8 points.

Ondra looked like the man to beat moving into the Lead round. On the wall, he had a solid performance, reaching hold 40+, the highest point of the night so far. Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Alberto Ginés López then topped the route, putting Ondra in second. Lee came out last, and by topping the route he earned the top of the podium. Sam Avezou of France had a particularly difficult finals round, scoring only 9.8 points in Boulder and 0 points in Lead after an unexpected fall very early on the route.

“Even though the Boulder results weren’t great, I wasn’t that affected,” said Lee after his victory. “I was still confident in Lead because Lead is my main discipline. I just wanted to do what I could do but I didn’t believe I could top it. I didn’t feel any pressure, but I was surprised to top the climb. I am not very expressive, I am very calm normally, but today I was emotional. I trained a lot for this and I realized what it meant.”

Boulder Final Results

1. Adam Ondra [CZE] (T2 HZ3 LZ4 8 13 14)
2. Paul Jenft [FRA] (T1 HZ3 LZ4 4 10 13)
3. Hamish McArthur [GBR] (T1 HZ3 LZ4 8 14 16)
4. Dohyun Lee [KOR] (T0 HZ3 LZ4 0 8 9)
5. Hannes Van Duysen [BEL] (T1 HZ1 LZ3 1 1 8)
6. Alberto Ginés López [ESP] (T0 HZ1 LZ4 0 3 9)
7. Sascha Lehmann [SUI] (T0 HZ0 LZ3 0 0 10)
8. Sam Avezou [FRA] (T0 HZ0 LZ2 0 0 4)

Lead Final Results

1. Dohyun Lee [KOR] (TOP)
2. Alberto Ginés López [ESP] (TOP)
3. Sascha Lehmann [SUI] (49+)
4. Paul Jenft [FRA] (41)
5. Adam Ondra [CZE] (40+)
6. Hannes Van Duysen [BEL] (40+)
7. Hamish McArthur [GBR] (35+)
8. Sam Avezou [FRA] (0)

Combined Final Results

1. Dohyun Lee [KOR] (134.5)
2. Alberto Ginés López [ESP] (124.5)
3. Adam Ondra [CZE] (124.1)
4. Paul Jenft [FRA] (113.1)
5. Sascha Lehmann [SUI] (110.4)
6. Hannes Van Duysen [BEL] (94.6)
7. Hamish McArthur [GBR] (93.9)
8. Sam Avezou [FRA] (9.8)

OQS Points System

Every athlete that competed in Shanghai earned points based on their final standing. These points will be combined with the points they earn at next month’s Budapest OQS event to determine whether they earn their spot to compete in the Olympics.

At each event, an athlete earns 50 points if they place first, 45 points if they place second, 41 points if they place third, 38 points if they place 4th, and 36 points if they place fifth. From sixth place onwards, athletes are awarded the same amount of points minus one from the place above them. For example, a climber gets 35 points for sixth, 34 points for seventh, and 33 points for eighth.

Lee therefore earned 50 points in Shanghai, Ginés López  earned 45, and Ondra 41. This puts the three climbers in an excellent position moving in to the Budapest OQS next month. At the end of the Budapest event, Budapest and Shanghai points will be summed together to reach a final score and determine who moves through to the Olympics.

To learn more about the Olympic Qualifier Series – the format, the competitors, and the points system – read our in-depth explainer here. The men’s Shanghai OQS Boulder final replay can be watched here. The men’s Shanghai OQS Lead final replay can be watched here.