MADRID, June 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Chu Shouhong and Emma Hunt of the United States captured the men's and women's speed climbing titles respectively on Sunday as the World Climbing Series Comunidad de Madrid concluded in Alcobendas, Spain.
Chu, 19, defeated Indonesia's Antasyafi Robby Al Hilmi in the men's final, clocking a personal-best 4.75 seconds to secure his second World Climbing Series gold medal following his victory in Guiyang last year. Al Hilmi, 18, had set a personal best of 4.72 seconds in the semifinal but was unable to reproduce that form in the gold-medal race.
"I'm feeling super happy and excited about the gold medal," Chu said after the final.
The Chinese added that his focus this season remains on the Asian Games. "I try to focus on myself, and my biggest goal this year is to win the Asian Games next September," he said.
China added another medal in the men's competition as Yang Jie claimed bronze, edging American Zach Hammer in one of the closest races of the evening. Yang finished in 4.84 seconds, just ahead of Hammer's 4.86, to earn the first World Climbing Series podium of his career.
In the women's event, Hunt completed a rapid turnaround from a disappointing season opener in Wujiang, where she finished 37th, to stand atop the podium in Spain. The American set three personal bests during the finals and produced another career-best performance in the gold-medal race against Ukraine's Polina Khalkevych, establishing a new Pan American record of 6.08 seconds.
"I ended up in 37th place in Wujiang, it was not my time and that's okay," Hunt said. "I did a really hard reset, tried a bunch of new things in the two weeks in between, and I think it worked."
Khalkevych, 18, secured the first senior international medal of her career with silver.
China also enjoyed success in the women's competition, with Zhang Shaoqin taking bronze after defeating teammate Mou Yuju in the third-place race.
The four-day event in Alcobendas featured both boulder and speed disciplines, as Japan's Sorato Anraku and Britain's Erin McNeice claimed men's and women's boulder gold, respectively.