Three Ukrainian climbers performed in the final of the first World Cup of the season, which was held in Wujiang, China.
In the men's “Speed” discipline, Hryhoriy Ilchyshyn and Yaroslav Tkach qualified for the final, and in the women's discipline, Polina Khalkevych became the first Ukrainian climber in the last five years to perform in the World Cup final.
How was the competition?
- In the men's qualification, the best time among Ukrainians was shown by Hryhoriy Ilchyshyn, who completed climbs A and B in 4.919 and 4.841 seconds, respectively, and finished with an overall sixth time.
- Tkach qualified for the final with a 13th result. He completed Hill A in 4.913 seconds and Hill B in 6.849 seconds. Two other Ukrainians, Denys Mozolevych and Kostyantyn Pavlenko, did not make it to the final.
- In the round of 16, Tkach faced last season's bronze medalist at the World Cup, Japanese Ryo Omasa. As a result, the Ukrainian lost due to a fall and was eliminated from the fight.
- Ilchyshyn's opponent in the round of 16 was the winner of the 2024 Olympic Games, Weddrik Leonardo from Indonesia. Ilchyshyn also dropped out of the fight, unable to overcome the climb.
- Khalkevych reached the final with an overall fourth result. The Ukrainian cleared the A and B lifts in 6.484 and 6.345 seconds, respectively. In the final, Khalkevych's rival was the American Isis Rothfork: the Ukrainian cleared the lift in exactly 7 seconds, while her rival cleared it in 6.96 seconds.
As a result, all Ukrainian climbers finished their participation in the final of the first World Cup at the round of 16 stage. Despite this, Ilchyshyn's result in the qualification became a new record among athletes from Europe.
Polina Khalkevych also finished the competition with a record. The Ukrainian's qualifying time of 6.34 seconds allowed her to update the Ukrainian record. Before that, the previous best result was 7.15 seconds, which Khalkevych showed at the European Youth Cup in October 2025.