If there was one thing for fans to take away from the sport climbing Lead qualification round at the Olympic Qualifier Series 2024 Budapest, it might be to show up early.
With the competitions taking place in an open park on the Ludovika Campus in the Hungarian capital, the few areas of shade were quickly taken up by those who had showed up early on Friday (21 June) morning, forecast to be the hottest day of the week amid an ongoing heatwave.
And those who did were also treated to some of the best climbing of the day. With the men and women climbing simultaneously on the Lead wall, the pair to watch was third on the wall: the women’s world number two Lead climber Seo Chaehyun and the men’s third-ranked Lead specialist Alexander Megos.
German Megos, in particular, had a lot to prove after a lacklustre Boulder qualification on Thursday left him back in 14th, having only achieved a single Top hold from his four problems.
“Climbing and competing in this heat is different game,” he had told Olympics.com after Thursday’s Boulder round. “I did okay, not too bad, but Lead is still going to be better, I hope.”
That came to fruition on Friday, with the 30-year-old making it the furthest up the wall, reaching a little above the 88-point hold.
A clearly excited Megos yelled out in delight as he was belayed down the wall having fallen barely three holds from the top: his 88.1 points gave him a total of 137.0 points, enough to see him finish the qualifying round in third position.
The only other man to make it to the same 88-point hold was the Olympic champion Alberto Ginés López, who topped the overall standings on 152.5 points. Czechia’s Adam Ondra (141.9) separates the two.
Source: Olympic Qualifier Series 2024 Budapest: Excited crowd pushes Alex Megos and Seo Chaehyun
