The World Climbing Para Series in South Korea kicked off with the temperature a talking point among athletes in qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climbers mostly like the colder temperatures when it comes to competition time as the friction on the holds is better, but in Gunsan it presented a new way of thinking for the athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sitting on the coastline in South Korea, Gunsan hosted the fifth Para Series event of the year with a full day of qualification across the 17 sport classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great Britain\u2019s Abigail Robinson is no stranger to tops, whether that is topping a route or topping qualification \u2013 in Gunsan, she has done both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sitting first going into the women\u2019s B2 final, Robinson was happy after posting a top and hold 46 climbs from her two routes:\u00a0\u201cI enjoyed the qualification today. There were some fun moves, and it was going seeing everyone having to try hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enjoying the challenges of the routes, Robinson also commented on other challenges her and everyone else was facing:\u00a0\u201cIt was pretty cold, and especially the first route today I noticed the cold. I\u2019ll do everything I can now to manage the cold, so things like the timing of my warmup is very important as I don\u2019t want to be too early and go cold or be too late and not have enough time to get on the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Gunsan the fifth of six Para series in 2026, Robinson is excited for the future and is already looking ahead of what is come for Para climbing:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s really cool to see how much the sport is growing and we are getting more comps and having a bigger season. It\u2019s exciting to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve planned out next season already to focus on Games qualification as that going to be the focus for everyone. There\u2019s also a competition in the UK which is going to be brilliant, and it\u2019s not far from where I live so I\u2019m really excited to have one on home turf. That event will be a priority as the experience will be brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robinson will fight it out with Austria\u2019s Linda Le Bon, USA\u2019s Seneida Biendarra and Germany\u2019s Luisa Grube in final tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men\u2019s B2 will be Japan podium lock out with three climbers from the nation contesting the final. Fumiya Hamanoue is the one who leads the way in first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan also has Sho Aita in a prime position for yet another medal in the men\u2019s B1, but with Spain\u2019s Francisco Javier Aguilar Amoedo the winner from Laval last time out also through to the final, the last route will be hotly contested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women\u2019s B1 is led by Austria\u2019s Lilli Marie Laschitz, with USA\u2019s Hassan Mohammadi the top qualifier in the men\u2019s B3,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AL1 class once again merges with the men and women competing as one group, and Austria\u2019s Angelino Zeller is once again the climber to beat. Zeller leads the way ahead of teammate Markus P\u00f6sendorfer, Belgium\u2019s Pavitra Vandenhoven and Japan\u2019s Naohisa Hatakeyama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her first World Climbing Para Series event, China\u2019s Yan Su is the top qualifier in the women\u2019s AL2 ahead of strong climbers like Australia\u2019s Sarah Larcombe, France\u2019s Lucie Jarrige and USA\u2019s Cail Soria while USA\u2019s Ethan Zilz is the first of six climbers through to the men\u2019s AL2 final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men\u2019s AU2 qualification was led by USA\u2019s Brian Zarzeula and will feature five climbers in the final after a tie for fourth between Zarzeula\u2019s teammate Chris Brelsford and Chile\u2019s Ignacio Martinez. France\u2019s Solenne Piret is the top qualifier in women\u2019s AU2 and Japan\u2019s Nobuhiro Yasuraoka top in men\u2019s AU3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia\u2019s Glen Todd moved into the final in the men\u2019s RP1 and is taking the Gunsan one step at a time:\u00a0\u201cMy qualification round went really well; I was really happy with how I climbed. I\u2019m in third place and through finals so I\u2019m happy. Getting through to finals is always the goal, and now the next goal is to podium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Germany\u2019s Korbinian Franck and Norway\u2019s Kim Rishaug are in first and second respectively in the class, and alongside fourth place Alo\u00efs Pottier from France, all will be looking to adapt to the colder temperatures that Robinson alluded too. For Todd, it\u2019s a pretty simple method:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a bit cold so I\u2019ll be wearing gloves and trying to keep my hands warm. That is the most important thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manikandan Kumar and Daniel Wiener moved through to the final in joint first men\u2019s RP2 with the Indian and German climbers switching positions on each route. The final will be interesting to see if they, or the other two finalists, can claim the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s RP3 is led by Japan\u2019s Kazuhiko Yamashita while the women\u2019s RP3 has Slovenia\u2019s Pia Purkart at the top of the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netherlands\u2019 Eva Mol was the best in both routes in the women\u2019s RP1 class to progress in first and Austria\u2019s Jasmin Plank did the same in women\u2019s RP2 to show herself as the one to beat in the final. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Climbing Para Series in South Korea kicked off with the temperature a talking point among athletes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[307,102],"class_list":["post-17229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-para-climbing","tag-sport-climbing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t