The 17th edition of the Climbing World Championships will take place in Moscow from September 16-21, where 300 world class climbers from 41 countries will compete for awards in three disciplines for men and women: speed, lead and bouldering.
Competitions will be held at two venues: the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace and the indoor track-and-field athletics complex CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt where qualifying rounds in bouldering are scheduled to be held.
The President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, took part in the opening ceremony of the Climbing World Championships:
– Dear friends! On behalf of the Russian Olympic Committee, I am glad to welcome you to the sports heartland of our country – Luzhniki Stadium. I know that the path of sport climbing into the program of the Olympic Games was difficult and bumpy, but you overcame all the difficulties and became an important addition to the Olympic family. Recently in Tokyo, we once again saw how beautiful and unpredictable your sport is. I am sure that the competitions in Moscow will also turn out to be exciting and will give the audience unforgettable moments. I wish you all good luck and the best results!
It should be noted that this is the first time that Russia is hosting such a high-level climbers competition. However, our country has plenty of experience in conducting competitions in this sport: we became the hosts of the World Cup, the Youth World Championships and the European Championships.
As part of the Russian Climbing Federation team, 27 climbers will perform at the tournament, including champions and prize-winners of different years: Alexey Rubtsov (bouldering), Maria Krasavina (speed), bronze medallist Elena Krasovskaya (all-around), vice-champion and winner of bronze Yulia Kaplina (speed), third-place winners Dmitry Timofeev and Alexander Shikov (speed).
