03/08/2026
Varvara Mikheeva – Bronze Medalist of the Youth European Series!
The next stage of the Youth European Series in climbing took place in the Austrian city of St. Pölten. Athletes competed in the speed climbing discipline. Among the contenders was one participant from Russia, Varvara Mikheeva (Krasnoyarsk Krai). She performed successfully in the 15–16 age category.
Varvara finished fourth in the qualification out of 25 contenders, with a time of 8.43 seconds. Only one participant managed to go under the 8-second mark.
Next, Varvara began to confidently advance through the tournament bracket. In the first heat, she beat Britain’s Ailie Forsyth with a time of 9.35, after her opponent suffered a fall. In the quarterfinals, the Siberian won decisively against Germany’s Elisabeth Kopp – 8.08 vs 9.36.
In the semifinals, our athlete’s opponent was qualification leader Lara Haselwanter. Trying to keep up with the very fast Austrian, Varvara made a mistake – clocking 10.36 against Haselwanter’s 7.58.
However, in the race for bronze, the Russian was flawless and for the first time that day dipped under 8 seconds. With a time of 7.98, she outpaced another local athlete, Melanie Treitler (9.82).
This is Varvara Mikheeva’s first international success! Her debut took place just last month – she competed at the World Championships, where she qualified for the top 16.
We congratulate the athlete and her coaches on this significant milestone in her sporting career!
