China, Indonesia split golds in debut four-lane speed climbing at World Games

CHENGDU, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Long Jianguo set a new national record of 4.74 seconds to win the men's four-lane speed climbing title at the Chengdu World Games on Friday, while Indonesia's Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi claimed the women's crown in 6.35.

It was the first time the four-lane format has appeared in sport climbing at a multi-sport event. Unlike the Olympic's two-lane standard, this event features four parallel lanes with four climbers racing simultaneously. The gold medal round is contested by all four finalists at once, rather than a head-to-head showdown.

"I felt this format was so much fun after the first run," said gold medalist Long. "There's a lot of unpredictability in the new format. In one run today, my teammate and I both made mistakes. Everyone feels the pressure, but it's about who can hold on."

A former World Cup winner, Long topped the qualification round before advancing to the 16-strong knockout stage. He narrowly avoided elimination in the quarterfinals but went on to become the only Chinese climber in the four-man medal race.

"When you're climbing with four people, you really don't feel much. You're focused, and you don't know your place until hitting the top pad," Long said.

Thanking his team for helping him prepare, he said, "Yesterday I didn't get the gold for the standard two-lane race that I wanted. Today my team took care of many off-the-wall matters so I could focus completely on the competition."

Indonesia's former world record holder Kiromal Katibin took silver in 4.81 seconds, with Kazakhstan's Rishat Khaibullin finishing third, 0.02 seconds behind.

The women's final saw all four climbers deliver clean runs. Desak emerged fastest, followed by Chinese newcomer Qin Yumei in 6.42 seconds. Desak's compatriot Rajiah Sallsabillah clocked 6.951 to snatch bronze by just 0.005 seconds ahead of Poland's Natalia Kalucka.

Many athletes welcomed the introduction of the new format.

"The four-lane is super fun. It's the same sport, but it adds a new freshness to it," said American Logan Schlecht, adding that climbers have four runs, giving them more chances to correct mistakes in the four-lane format's qualifiers.

Toru Kobinata, vice president of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC), said that as a young sport, sport climbing "has always been exploring possibilities to move to the next level." He described the World Games as a key platform for testing new formats and engaging with other sports, with the four-lane event being one such trial.

"For the audience, having four climbers race at once is definitely more exciting," Kobinata said. He noted that the format adds to the unpredictability of speed climbing - "nothing is certain until the last moment" - and that multiple qualifying runs give athletes a chance to make up for earlier mistakes.

However, he acknowledged the increased physical demands and said the IFSC will continue studying the best ways to present new formats such as the four-lane and speed relay. ■