The third Lead World Cup of the 2021 season ended yesterday evening in Chamonix, France, where the Italian Laura Rogora and the American Sean Bailey took first place in the women's and men's finals.
Sean Bailey claimed a second consecutive lead World Cup gold medal after topping the podium in Villars, Switzerland earlier in the month. Overall, it's his third gold medal of the season, as he won gold in the bouldering discipline in Salt Lake City.
After Bailey - who achieved a rating of 34+ - the Italian Stefano Ghisolfi followed in second place, who won his second silver medal of the season with 32 points. Ghisolfi also came second at the Lead World Cup in Innsbruck.
The Czech Martin Stranik achieved the same rating as Ghisolfi in the men's final, but ended up in 3rd place due to the result of the preliminary round. The Swiss Sascha Lehmann, who convinced with a strong performance in Chamonix, just missed the podium.
Yannick Flohé: Controversial decision
The German athlete Yannick Flohé had to swallow a bitter pill. With a rating of 41+, the joy of making it into the final round was great. But the joy did not last long. The rating was contested and approved by the responsible referee. Yannick's move to the next grip was not recognized, with the result that he was deprived of the plus rating and slipped back to 11th place.
An incompetent IFSC referee put me in 11th place. The decisions about the positive scores have been somewhat random in the recent past.
Yannick Flohe
Italian Laura Rogora wins second World Cup gold medal
In the women's final, with the only top of the evening, Italian Laura Rogora added a second World Cup gold medal to her collection after winning the only World Cup of the season in Briançon, France last year. Laura Rogora, who is currently one of the strongest female athletes, won silver in Villar.
Second place went to the high-flyer Natalia Grossman from the USA, who won her sixth medal of the 41 season with a rating of 2021+. She won a medal at every World Cup this season!
Bulgarian Aleksandra Totkova was behind Grossman with 38+ points. After reaching the semi-finals on her debut in the Senior World Cup in Innsbruck, Totkova reached the final in Villars and took her first podium tonight in Chamonix. The 16-year-old is certainly one of the athletes we will hear more from.
The full results of the Lead World Cup in Chamonix 2021
Top 10 for men
| Rank | Name | First Name | Country | qualification | semi-final | Final |
| 1 | SEAN | BALEY | USA | 8.31 | 43 | 34+ |
| 2 | STEFANO | GHISOLFI | ITA | 11.62 | 46 | 32 |
| 3 | MARTIN | STRANIK | CZE | 14.9 | 43 | 32 |
| 4 | SASHA | LEHMANN | SUI | 6 | 47+ | 29 |
| 5 | VICTOR | EDGE OF BUILDING | CAN | 5.61 | 41+ | 28+ |
| 6 | MARCELLO | BOMBARDI | ITA | 10.39 | 41+ | 26+ |
| 7 | LUKA | POTOCAR | SLO | 15.91 | 45 | 25+ |
| 8 | PAUL | JENFT | From | 11.62 | 45+ | 25 |
| 9 | MASAHIRO | HIGUCHI | JPN | 13.13 | 41+ | |
| 10 | HANNES | Puman | SWE | 26.94 | 41+ |
Top 10 for women
| Rank | Name | First Name | Country | qualification | semi-final | Final |
| 1 | LAURA | ROGORA | ITA | 9.81 | top | top |
| 2 | NATALIA | GROSSMAN | USA | 3.24 | top | 41+ |
| 3 | ALEXANDRA | TOTKOVA | BUL | 4.58 | top | 38+ |
| 4 | RESUME | Lukan | SLO | 8.49 | top | 38+ |
| 5 | NATSUKI | TANII | JPN | 14.83 | top | 32+ |
| 6 | JULIA | CHANOURDIE | From | 5.77 | top | 29+ |
| 7 | ASHIMA | Shiraishi | USA | 15.87 | top | 29+ |
| 8 | DINARA | FACHRITDINOV | RUS | 5.77 | top | 28+ |
| 9 | NOLIF | ARC | From | 20.65 | top | |
| 10 | ELISKA | ADAMOVSKA | CZE | 16.16 | 54 |
The final of the Lead World Cup in Chamonix in the repeat
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Credits: Text IFSC, picture Daniel Gajda / IFSC