XIAMEN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The final stage of the 2018 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup tournament kicked off on Saturday here in Southeast China's coastal city of Xiamen, where the season titles and podiums for speed, lead and combined will be determined on Sunday.
After months of elite sport climbing, the IFSC World Cup season will conclude in Xiamen, with the 7th lead and 8th speed events. Janja Garnbret from Slovenia and Jakob Schubert from Austria respectively clinched the women and men's lead season titles at IFSC World Cup Wujiang last weekend.
Stefano Ghisolfi from Italy and Jessica Pilz from Austria secured the second place on the lead season podium in the men and women's rankings respectively. South Korean Jain Kim will join Garnbret and Pilz on the women's lead podium at season's end, but the final spot on the men's lead season podium has yet to be decided.
French climber Romain Desgranges soared in the men's lead season ranking after the Wujiang event. Even if Slovenian Domen Skofic takes the victory in Xiamen, the two-time lead season medalist Desgranges still holds the chance to remain on the lead season podium for a third consecutive season by winning a medal.
Austria, Slovenia and Japan hold the advantage in the team ranking for lead, and strong performances at the final event could possibly change the current ordering.
In speed, Anouck Jaubert from France had clinched the women's season title, but the remaining spots on the men and women's speed season podiums are up for grabs.
Danyil Boldyrev from Ukraine leads among the men, but Russian athletes Dmitrii Timofeev and Aleksandr Shilov, Reza Alipourshenzandifar from Iran and Bassa Mawem from France can all mathematically overtake Boldyrev for the men's speed season title.
Russian teammates Iuliia Kaplina and Mariia Krasavina currently rank 3rd and 2nd among the women, but Aries Susanti Rahayu from Indonesia could disrupt their plans. Russia is poised to continue their winning streak in speed after dominating all season long, followed by France and Indonesia.
The overall season titles are decided by a new calculation this year. Garnbret and Schubert displaced Japanese teammates Tomoa Narasaki and Miho Nonaka from the provisional first place in Wujiang, and the overall season podiums will be decided in Xiamen.
