IFSC Speed Knockout titles went to Rahmad Adi and Aleksandra Kalucka ©IFSC

Indonesia's Rahmad Adi and Poland's Aleksandra Kalucka claimed the first virtual wins on the sport climbing calendar at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Speed Knockout.

These events were held virtually due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the suspension of open competitions in sport climbing.

In the men's event, Adi claimed gold in the final after a couple of tight clashes, first in the semi-final, and then in the final against Italy's Gianluca Zodda who took silver.

Russia's Vladimir Deulin won bronze in the small final in a head-to-head with compatriot Vladimir Timofeev, with all four ducking under the six-second barrier in their final runs. 

In qualifying, Adi stamped his authority on the top seed position, holding a tenth over Timofeev in second, with Italians Zodda and Ludovico Fossali in three and four.


Adi's knockout round, of which the top 16 of nearly 30 competitors qualified for, started with a win against Aspar Jaelolo - arguably out of his position as the final seed in the competition.

A win in the quarter-final against another of his compatriots, Alfian Muhammad, set up a semi-final with Deulin who overcame Fossali in the last eight.

Despite finishing with a strong time of 5.772sec, Deulin would still be out-climbed by Adi who clocked a time of 5.757sec, with the Russian only knowing he would contend for the bronze rather than the gold after his run - with climbers unaware initially of each other's times.

Zodda clocked 5.912sec in the other semi-final to beat Timofeev and make the final against Adi.

Deulin and Timofeev both broke six seconds in the small final, with the former creating space between the two as Timofeev slipped slightly on the final climb towards the button.

Adi had a similarly slim win in the final, clocking a time of 5.770sec compared to Zodda's 5.798sec to claim a well-deserved gold.

After the event, Adi said: "I'm very happy because it's my best competition and this was special for me."

Aleksandra Kalucka came out on top in the women's event ©IFSC
Aleksandra Kalucka came out on top in the women's event ©IFSC

Kalucka took the gold in the women's event ahead of Russia's Elizaveta Ivanova and the dark horse, Giulia Randi of Italy who claimed bronze.

Russia's Iuliia Kaplina topped the times with an incredible 7.640sec - over two tenths quicker than Kalucka, who was seeded second in qualifying.

Natalia Kalucka, the twin sister of Aleksandra, was upset in the last 16 courtesy of Randi, who qualified 11th and would make the final four after a win against lower French seed Capucine Viglione who herself defeated third seed Ekaterina Barashchuk.

The other top four seeds of Kaplina, Aleksandra Kalucka and Ivanova made the semi-finals, with the first seed losing in an all-Russian tie to Ivanova.

Kalucka eased to the final in her race against Randi, clocking a comprehensive time of 7.670sec.

In the small final, Randi claimed another scalp after Kaplina struggled from the start before falling to a non-finish.

Kalucka went one better in the final with a time of 7.460sec ahead of Ivanova, a few tenths back.

Speaking of her win, Kalucka said: "This final was so strange for me because my emotions were between competition and training mode, but it was also fun for me."