Dramatic tie in women's lead final as Climbing World Cup Wujiang wraps up

SUZHOU, China, April 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's Seo Chae-hyun and Britain's Erin McNeice shared the gold medal in the women's lead event after posting identical results across all competition rounds at the 2025 Climbing World Cup in Wujiang on Sunday.

Lead climbing tests athletes on a high wall, with the highest point reached within a time limit determining the winner. In the case of a tie in the final, results from the semifinal and qualification rounds are used to break the tie. If the tie remains, the faster time recorded in the final determines the ranking.

However, Seo and McNeice finished with exactly the same score -- 41 holds -- in the final, matching their semifinal and qualification results, and even clocked the same time of 4 minutes, 26 seconds in the final. As a result, they were both awarded the gold medal in a rare outcome.

"It's my first time to win together with someone, but I'm happy for sure, because I can share the gold medal with Erin," Seo said. "The route was very flowy, and I like the style. I'm a little bit sad for not getting the top," she added.

"The victory marked McNeice's first-ever World Cup gold. "I'm just really, really happy. I enjoyed the climbing and sharing (the gold) with someone," she said."

Head route-setter Yann Genoux admitted after the event that the result was unexpected: "It's very unfortunate - I don't think it ever happened before to have climbers falling off at the same move and the same time. No one can anticipate that."

He added that the women's final route had been designed as a classic endurance test. As for what caused the tie, Genoux said he still wasn't sure, noting that he would like to discuss the climb with the athletes afterwards.

In the men's lead final, Japanese sensation Sorato Anraku, 18, won gold after topping the route with ease, securing his second straight World Cup win of the season. A week earlier, Anraku had won the men's boulder title at the Keqiao stop.

Upon completing his climb, Anraku was seen covering his eyes while gripping the final hold. When asked if he was overcome with emotion, he said: "I cried in my heart, but my tears didn't come out." Enditem