China News Service, Changchun, January 3 (guo jia) the 2013-2020 international league Ice Climbing World Cup opened in Changchun on the 3rd. Nearly 80 athletes from 16 countries and regions including China, Japan and Russia participated in the competition.
Ice Climbing World Cup started in 2002 and is the highest level event of ice climbing project. This competition is divided into four events: men’s and women’s speed competition and difficulty competition. Two Russian players Nikola Kuzov Lev and Maria tolokonina will continue to participate in this year’s competition. The former ranked first in the world ranking of the 2019 men’s ice climbing challenge of the International Federation, the latter is the champion of the annual women’s difficulty race and the runner-up of the speed race. In addition, Anton Nemov, the Russian player who ranked first in the world of men’s speed ice climbing in 2019, is also looking forward to creating good results in the Changchun competition.
China sent 15 athletes to participate in this competition, including 9 male players and 6 female players. They will participate in all four competitions.
Wang Yongfeng, deputy director of the Mountaineering Management Center of the State Sports General Administration of China, said that the International Federation of ice climbing world cup has been settled in China for three years, and the level of competition has been steadily improved, which is highly recognized by the international community. At present, China is also actively participating in the formulation of ice climbing project standards.
“We finished top 8 of world in the speed race last year. This year, our national ice climbing team is very confident. The players and coaches are full of energy and hope to create better results at home.” Wang Yongfeng said.
Ice climbing comes from mountaineering, which is a compulsory subject for climbing snow mountain and one of the basic skills of mountaineering. The sharp ice axe, sharp crampons, steep fridge, and the excellent competitive skills of the players have attracted more and more attention from the outside world.
Wang Yongfeng revealed that the ice climbing project, as an extreme sport, has developed rapidly in recent years. Judging from the current development situation, the ice climbing project is expected to become a performance project in the 2026 Winter Olympics, it should be the event of the Winter Olympics by 2030.
This competition is hosted by the International Mountaineering Federation, China Mountaineering Association and Jilin provincial sports bureau. The competition will last until 5th day of this month. (Finished)