MADRID, 21 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish climber Erik Noya has broken the Spanish speed record, Olympic modality, in qualifying for the second round of the World Cup, held in Salt Lake City (United States), before falling in the round of 16 to the American Samuel Watson.
At the Pioneer Park in the North American town, the Galician achieved fourth position in the qualifying rounds after a very fast series together with the American John Brosler, setting a time of 5.685 seconds, a personal best and a new record for Spain.
“The sensations were very good, I arrived at this World Cup much calmer after having released quite a few nerves compared to the previous one, in Seoul. I felt good and very happy to have lowered the record of Spain. I am very excited. It was a main objective for this year that I managed to achieve at the beginning of the season, in addition to getting into the final, which is also very important,” he said.
Thus, he advanced to the finals, where in the round of 16 he fell to the local Samuel Watson due to small details. A time of 7.69 allowed him to finish in ninth place, within the ‘Top 10’ of the world speed elite. “You can see that I have improved a lot, however I know that I must continue to improve when it comes to my final rounds. I feel that there are things that make me lose concentration and I am taking the learning of this subject with me in this competition. Now it’s time to work in the weak points, since I know that I have the ability to achieve better results in the finals,” he said.
The victory in the final went to the Indonesian Kiromal Katibin, current holder of the men’s world speed record, thanks to a mark of 5.64 seconds against the American Noah Bratschi. Previously, both Katibin and Bratschi had qualified for access to the fight for gold after two falls by Ludovico Fossali and Veddriq Leonardo, respectively.
In the women’s category, María Laborda achieved a 20th position with a time of 9.04 seconds, four places from the pass to the finals. A test in which Miroslaw took gold for the second consecutive World Cup event, the seventh of his career, setting the best time of his fight for the gold medal, stopping the clock in 6.93 seconds. Aleksandra Kalucka took silver, finishing nearly a second behind her teammate in 7.83.
The current women’s sprint world champion, Natalia Kalucka, signed the third place on the podium, beating the American Emma Hunt in one of the most close series of the night, with a time of 7.52 for the Polish climber compared to 7.58 for Hunt .
The IFSC Bouldering and Speed World Cup in Salt Lake City will continue this Saturday with the participation of Olympic champion Alberto Ginés in the Men’s Block qualification and Aida Torres in the Women’s Block qualification.