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Men’s Speed Climbing World Record Broken, Twice in One Day

Salt Lake City, Utah USA – 29 May 2021

They came to Salt Lake City to break records and break them they did. With Perfect Descent Auto Belays mounted high on the wall, teammates from Indonesia’s Speed Climbing team played leapfrog for the men’s 15m Speed World Record at the first Speed World Cup of 2021. The previous record of 5.48 seconds was put up by the powerhouse Iranian Speed Climber, Reza Alipour at the Nanjing, China World Cup in 2017 and stood untouched until now. 

In front of an enthusiastic U.S. crowd, Team Indonesia’s Kiromal Katibin powered up the wall in the first round of qualifications and toppled the world record with a time of 5.258 seconds. In a following round racing against the newly crowned world record holder Veddriq Leonardo, Katibin’s teammate, exploded off the start pad and hit the top of the route in a mind-blowing 5.208. The 5.258 record stood for less than an hour before Lenonardo took the top honor. The young climbers, 20 and 24 respectively, seemed to come into this event looking to make a name for themselves.

“I’m very happy today for this gold medal and for breaking the world record. It’s been amazing to compete alongside my teammate. We didn’t come here for the victory, we came here to break records.”

VeddriQ LEONARDO, MEN’S WORLD RECORD HOLDER

It seems clear that Team Indonesia used the pandemic year to sharpen their focus and hone their skill on the Speed wall. With World Cup competition back on track after the disappointing cancellations of 2020, the climbing world now looks with anticipation to Tokyo and climbing’s introduction on the Olympic stage. Perfect Descent is the Official Auto Belay of IFSC World Cup competition, Sole Supplier to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and a proud supporter of speed athletes who break down barriers.