On October 19, the final event of the 2014 IFSC Climbing World Cup — the Jiangsu Wujiang leg — came to a close. Zhong Qixin, captain of China's national climbing team and an athlete sponsored by Red Bull, defeated Libor Hroza, the newly crowned world champion and current world record holder from the Czech Republic, by a margin of 6.02 seconds to 6.06 seconds, securing the men's speed climbing title. This marks Zhong’s second World Cup stage victory following his win at the Shandong Haiyang leg on June 22. Additionally, dubbed "China's Gecko," Zhong set the fastest time of the competition, 5.92 seconds, during the semifinals.
With this, the 2014 IFSC Climbing World Cup series has concluded. Thanks to the 100 points earned from the final leg, Zhong Qixin finished the year ranked fourth in the overall World Cup standings, bringing his 2014 World Cup campaign to a close. Across the six stages he competed in, Zhong secured two victories, one third-place finish, two eighth-place results, and one non-qualification for the finals. His World Cup performance mirrored his form throughout the year. “I felt my results this year were somewhat up and down. Especially during the European World Cup and World Championship events this summer, I couldn’t find my rhythm or adjust to the right competitive state, leading to multiple mistakes and ultimately unsatisfactory results,” Zhong said.
After several setbacks in major international competitions, Zhong had been holding back his frustration. This time, he let go of the pressure, regained his form, and claimed the title: “There were some regrets in this year’s World Cup, but I’ve now found my rhythm again. Next year, I’ll still aim for the overall World Cup championship. I’ll also be competing in the Asian Beach Games and the National Championships. As long as my form holds, I should be able to secure both titles.”
Since winning the Spanish Climbing World Championship in 2007, Zhong Qixin has led China’s dominance in speed climbing. Over the next seven years, he achieved four consecutive World Championship titles, broke the world speed climbing record six times, won over 30 domestic and international speed climbing titles, received two nominations for “Best Non-Olympic Athlete” at the CCTV Sports Personality of the Year awards, was invited to compete in the X-Games global extreme sports event, and secured a sponsorship deal with energy drink giant Red Bull. He is one of China’s most decorated non-Olympic athletes in terms of world titles. To date, only Lin Dan and Zhong Qixin have won four world championships in China.