Sam Avezou wins through his Speed
Sam Avezou from France won the Combined Youth in a dramatic final climbing faster than Filip Schenk to their scoring 37+. If Filip, who started last, had controlled hold 38, he would have won. Sam is, among the ones performing in all three disciplines, the world's fastest Speed climber, 7.51 and a contender for a medal in Tokyo 2020. 1. Sam Avezou FRA 3 * 7 * 2 = 42 2. Filip Schenk ITA 15 * 1.5 * 3 = 67.5 3. Peter Ivanov BUL 6 * 3 * 4 = 72 Complete results It should be noted that in Youth A, the Top-20 from all disciplines competed as it was also a qualification for the Top-13 to the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina in 2018. In the Olympics, the Combined event will finish with a final with Top-6 from the semifinal. (c) Eddie Fowke.

Amalie Kรคgi wins gold in Arco
Amalie Kรคgi, who flashed all five problems in the qualification round, won gold in the girls' U-17 boulder event. With her fifth-place finish in Lead as well, tโ€ฆ
Kazuki Nakata gets the double in Arco
Team Japan got another gold at the Youth World Championships in Arco when Kazuki Nakata won the U-17 in Boulder, his second gold after also winning in Lead. In โ€ฆ
Second Combined gold for Austria
Sandra Lettner won the Youth A category ahead of Ashima Shirashi who for the first time in a Youth comp did not stand on the top of the podium. Sandra has not yet competed in the World Cup but she has won the European Youth Cup in 2017 in both Lead and Boulder. 1. Sandra Lettner AUT 10 * 1 * 4 = 40 (S * B * L) 2. Ashima Shiraishi USA 13 * 4 * 1 = 52 3. Brooke Raboutou USA 9 * 3 * 5 = 135 Complete results - (c) Eddie Fowke.

Alex Khazanov has done Practice of the wild 8C (B+) in Magic Wood and goes to #7 in the ranking game. "One of my biggest struggles on a boulder. From almost doing it, to extending my trip and failing miserably 30 times on the upper crux shoulder move, I thinnly managed to keep it together and top one of my hardest and favorite boulders! 8B+ or 8C? I seriously dont know, and frankly, I dont care that much. I just know it was hard."

Austria got their first gold in female Juniors
1. Laura Stรถckler AUI 3 * 1 * 1 = 3 2. Iuliia Pantaleva RUS 1 * 2 * 5 = 10 3. Margo Hayes USA 5 * 3 * 3 = 45 The big sensation in female juniors was Claire Buhrfeid who won in both the Lead and Boulder event as well as being #4 in Speed, but just finished #5 in the Combined. The American did four runs below 9.50 in the Speed event and faced Aika Tajima, who normally does around 16 seconds in the Combined event. She was superior until she fell and then she could not recover mentally it seemed. Laura Stรถckler on the other hand pleased her home crowd by performing better in all three disciplines in the Combined final. More pics at Austria Climbing.

1. Meichi Narasaki JPN 1 * 1 * 4 = 4 2. Yushiyuki Ogata JPN 2 * 2 * 1 = 4 3. Kai Lightner USA 3 * 3 * 3 = 9 Complete results Japan took another double victory followed by a bronze for USA in Junior male Combined. As all three guys, in fact, are very good Speed climbers performing in between 8.00 to 8.74 seconds, chances are high that some of them will also compete in Tokyo 2020. A highlight of the competition was when Ogata, in his normal yo-yo style, finished one boulder on his 11th attempt. Measuring how many attempts, i.e. training, he puts in when he does not top, as well as his senior WC results, he should already now be pointed out as a contender for a medal in Tokyo.

1. Semen Ovchinnikov RUS 2 * 2 * 3 = 12 (S * B * L) 2. Rei Kawamata JPN 3 * 1 * 6 = 18 3. Hidimassa Nishida JPN 6 * 4 * 1 = 24 Complete results Semen Ovchinnikov from Russia is the Combined winner in the Youth B after stellar performance in all three disciplines. The Japanese athletes got the three next positions. Interesting is that in the Boulder event, the worst results was four tops in six tries. Pictures and full report at Austria Climbing

In Lead and Boulder, the Japanese Youth B girls got all six medals and in the Combined event they did it again. The final finished by Natsuki and Ai topping out as they also did in the Lead final. 1. Tani Natsuki JPN 1 * 2 * 1.5 = 4.5 2. Mori Ai JPN 5 * 1 * 1.5 = 7.5 3. Ito Futaba JPN 2 * 3 * 3 = 18 Complete results Pictures and full report at Austria Climbing