Veddriq and Miroslaw win and set 5 WR's

In the first Speed World Cup in 2023, in Seoul Korea, Leonardo Veddriq from Indonesia first set a new world record in the quali with 4.98. Later in the quarter finals, he ran up the 16 m 6b+ route at 4.90 winning his fifth World Cup event. In 2012, the WR was 6.07 and further progression has happened since 2021 when the WR was 5.48. Kiromal Katibin, also of Indonesia has broken the WR six times, but in Seoul, he slipped and recorded a 5.73.

In women's speed climbing, Alexandra Miroslaw, from Poland, set her three WR's and her fastest was 6.25 recorded in the final. Her first WR was set in 2021 with 6.87. Miroslaw, who has won four golds at Euro and the World Championships since 2019, was #4 in the Tokyo Combined Olympics.

Overall, this was the fastest Speed climbing competition ever with all Top-16 males sub 5.43 and females sub 7.41. (c) IFSC/Dimitris Tosidis