Arco 2015, Day Seven: Lead Semi-Finals

Another day has come to an end at the World Youth Climbing Championships in Arco, Italy.

By Shane Murdoch

The clouds were a nice relief from the blazing sun we had for the first few days. Today was Lead semi-finals for all categories. Canada had three athletes competing today. The top eight competitors in each category will advance to finals.

First up were the Male and Female Youth B categories. Ashima Shiraishi from the U.S. continues to dominate. With very little effort she became the only Youth B to top. The top 8 athletes in the Male category are all within 3 holds of each other. Belgium’s Harold Peeters holds the lead after count back to qualifiers.

Next up were the Youth A’s. Janja Garnbret from Slovenia continues to top all of her routes. Like Ashima, she seems to be dominating her category. Three U.S. Athletes are advancing to Female finals. Canada’s Lucas Uchida put in a fantastic performance and moved up two positions to finish 18th in the Male category. Shascha Lehmann from Switzerland moved up from eighth to first.

Ashima and Janja have been the talk of the comp. Although they are not in the same category they did share and top the same two qualifiers. We will have to wait until Ashima is old enough to compete in a World Cup to see these two go head to head.

The Juniors were the last to compete. Becca Frangos and Pia Graham from Canada climbed strong finishing 24th and 26th. Amal Verhoeven from Belgium is in the lead going into finals. Austria’s Jessica Pilz dropped from first to fourth when she failed to top the semi-final route. Japan’s Keiichiro Korenaga maintained his lead on the Male side but everyone else shuffled around.

Congratulations to all Canadians that competed in Lead this year. You made us proud.

Full results can be found on the IFSC website.

Tomorrow is Speed day. Qualifications in the morning followed by Finals in the afternoon. Good luck to Canadian athletes Courtney Belleau, Sonja Johanson, Tehya Rogers, Maggy Dube-Laroche, Elena Moss, Evelyna Trottier, Magnus Einarsson and Tristen Gosselin.

– Photos and text by Shane Murdoch, a B.C.-based climber and photographer covering the Arco competition for Gripped.