Rafaela Kazbekova won gold at the Junior World Climbing Championship. The 16-year-old Ukrainian competed in the "difficulty" discipline at the world championship, which is taking place in Helsinki (Finland). This was reported by the NOC of Ukraine, writes UNN.
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The Junior World Climbing Championship is currently underway in Helsinki, Finland, with over 600 athletes from around the world participating. The competition takes place in three main disciplines: bouldering, lead, and speed, as well as in two age categories — U17 and U19. This is the first championship where participants are divided into two age groups instead of three.
16-year-old Rafaela Kazbekova won the semi-final in the "difficulty" discipline, becoming the only participant to reach the top of the route, which allowed her to start last in the final. In the fight for awards, the Ukrainian surpassed her competitors by additional criteria and won in the "difficulty" discipline in the U17 age category.
Rafaela Kazbekova became the first Ukrainian in the last 15 years to win "gold" in the U17 category: her sister Yevheniya last achieved this in 2010.
It should be recalled that at the end of May, Rafaela won "silver" at the European Climbing Championship in the "bouldering" discipline among athletes under 17.
It is also worth adding that Rafaela's coaches are her parents — Serik Kazbekov and Natalia Perlova. From 1999 to 2005, her father won stages of the World Cup in the "bouldering" discipline, and her mother won the World Cup in the same discipline in 2002.