Manikandan Kumar wins gold in Para Climbing World Cup 2024 Series

India’s Manikandan Kumar has won a gold medal in the Men’s RP2 category in the IFSC Para Climbing World Cup 2024 Series that drew to a close on Saturday in Arco, Italy.

Kumar registered a score of 44 to edge out Benjamin Mayforth of the U.S. and Xavier Rithner of Switzerland in what was a closely contested final.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Kumar has won a medal at the event.

Redemption for Kumar

“Eleven years ago I competed here in Rock Masters and I missed out on gold by one place, today I got it, and it is a proud moment,” he said in an interaction with the promoters of the event.

According to Kumar, competition in the category is intense and a climber must be at the top of the game to win a medal.

““Our category I feel is one of the strongest, so you need to be on top form, you have to always bring your ‘A’ game to win a gold.”

Form aside, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Kumar, who acknowledge to have gotten off to a rough start in the qualification round.

“It was a good climb. Yesterday I messed up a bit in the qualification but today I made up my mind that I would not make any mistakes, and I didn’t. I did my absolute best, I gave 100% and I’m thrilled to win gold.”

End of season

The event in Arco, Italy brings the curtains down on the 2024 Para Climbing World Cup Season.

Seventeen sport classes took to the podium under the northern Italian sky in the shadow of the limestone cliffs that overlook the historical and popular climbing town.

The podiums in Arco were the last act for the 2024 IFSC Para Climbing World Cup season after events in Salt Lake City, USA, and Innsbruck, Austria as well as in the Italian town.