Ai Mori and Colin Duffy win in Chamonix

1. Colin Duffy USA 42+ : Ai Mori JPN Top
2. Sam Avezou FRA 41+ : Jessica Pilz AUT Top
3. Toby Roberts GBR 39 : Mei Kotake JPN 44+
Complete results.

Colin Duffy was #20 in the qualification and then #7 in the semifinal before climbing highest of all in the final. Ai Mori, on the other hand, won the first two rounds and by topping out the final route, she won on countback over Jessica Pilz.

Duffy comments, “It feels amazing to get my second Lead World Cup gold. It’s been an incredible journey these past few years doing the World Cup circuit and finding another special moment on the wall. In qualification I didn’t feel the greatest on the wall, but I put that out of my mind and have a good climb in the final. And the crowd here is incredible. It’s a perfect way to cap off my last competition before the Olympics. I’ve been training hard all year and to see I’m in the form I want to be is phenomenal and I’m going to stay here in France and train before Paris and I want to show my best there.”

Mori comments, “I thought that Jessica maybe got a top so I was a very nervous, but I looked out and saw the big crowd, and that big crowd pushed my performance. When I got the top I was very happy. I’ll go back to Japan now and then it’s straight to the Olympics, and I’ll do my best there.”

Many of the top climbers like Sorato Anraku, Jakob Schubert, Alex Megos, Janja Garnbret and Chaehyun Seo did not participate.