BEIJING - The 2024 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup concluded its final stage in Seoul, South Korea on Sunday. China's Olympic silver medalist Deng Lijuan took the top spot in the women's speed rankings, securing her first-ever overall title of the series.

Deng, 24, has competed in four out of six speed races in this season's World Cup, winning one gold and one bronze medal. She becomes the second Chinese female athlete to claim the overall World Cup title following Song Yiling, the overall champion of women's speed in 2019.

Current world record holder Samuel Watson of the United States won the men's title. The 18-year-old had stunned the world by breaking the world record with a 4.79-second run in the season's opener in Wujiang, China, and took bronze at the Paris Olympics in a time of 4.74 seconds.

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Other Chinese speed climbers also achieved success in Seoul. Wang Xinshang and Zhou Yafei won the men's and women's speed races respectively, capturing their first-ever World Cup gold medals. Wang Xinshang's victory also propelled him to third place in the overall rankings. Chinese climber Wang Shengyan defeated Deng Lijuan by 0.1 seconds in the women's bronze medal match, claiming her first-ever World Cup podium finish.

In the lead climbing discipline, Jessica Pilz of Austria, the bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics, surpassed the Paris Olympic champion Janja Garnbret of Slovenia after winning gold in Seoul, claiming the women's overall championship. British climber Toby Roberts, the Paris Olympic champion, secured the men's overall title.

Chinese climbers Zhang Yuetong and Luo Zhilu reached the women's lead climbing final in Seoul, finishing in seventh and eighth place respectively. Both athletes have made it to the final in this discipline twice this season, with Luo also winning a silver medal in Wujiang.

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In bouldering, the annual champions were Japan's Sorato Anraku, the men's silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, and Natalia Grossman of the United States.