Kiromal Katibin (born ) is an Indonesian sport climber specializing in
speed climbing
Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers.
Competition speed climbing, which takes place on ...
. He is the current world record holder in speed climbing, with a time of 5.009 seconds recorded at 2022 IFSC Climbing World Cup in
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...
, France in July 2022, and finished second overall in the men's speed category during the 2021 World Cup series. Katibin also has four career
IFSC Climbing World Cup
The IFSC Climbing World Cup is a series of climbing competitions held annually and organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). The athletes compete in three disciplines: lead, bouldering and speed. The number of competit ...
medals, all in speed.
Early life
In 2007, Katibin saw sport climbing for the first time in a Batang city square during the Provincial Sports Week.
Since 2009, Katibin has been training with his brother. He was motivated to pursue sport climbing because he enjoyed meeting many friends, but he started winning national-level championships. His first medal was in the
lead climbing
Lead climbing is a climbing style, predominantly used in rock climbing. In a roped party one climber has to take the lead while the other climbers follow. The ''lead climber'' wears a harness attached to a climbing rope, which in turn is connected ...
competition at the 2011 National Championships. He also won the
speed climbing
Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers.
Competition speed climbing, which takes place on ...
gold medal at the 2016 National Championships and the speed climbing gold medal at the 2017 National Championships.
Career
Katibin collected his first senior international medal, winning silver at the 2019 Asian Championships in
Bogor
Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.IFSC World Cup event in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, United States. The record had been held by
Reza Alipour
Reza Alipour Shenazandifard ( fa, رضا علیپور شنازندی فرد, born 29 َApril 1994) is an Iranian speed climber from Qazvin.
He is nicknamed the "Persian Cheetah".
In 2013 at the World Cup in Haiyang, China, he broke the world r ...
who climbed in 5.48 seconds in 2017. He finished the competition with a silver medal, losing the same day in the final race to his compatriot
Veddriq Leonardo
Veddriq Leonardo (born 11 March 1997) is an Indonesian speed climber. For about a year he held the world record in his discipline, which he set en route to winning the men's speed climbing event at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup in Salt Lake ...
, who set a new world record of 5.20 seconds. In July 2021, Katibin won a bronze at the Villars World Cup. He finished the 2021 World Cup series in second place overall.
On 6 May 2022, Katibin regained the world record from Leonardo with a 5.17-second run in the qualifying round of the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
event in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea. On 27 May, he lowered his own world record with 5.10 seconds in the qualifying round of the World Cup event in Salt Lake City. On 30 June, he broke the record for the fourth time in the IFSC World Cup Villars qualifiers with 5.097 seconds and improved his record again later that day with a 5.04-second run. On 8 July, Katibin set the world record for the seventh time in 14 months with a time of 5.009 seconds at the Chamonix World Cup qualifying round.
In July 2022, Katibin won the silver medal at the
World Games
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...
in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, United States, losing to Leonardo in the final.
Achievements
World Games
''Men's speed''
Asian Championships
''Men's speed''
''Men's speed relay''
Asian Youth Championships
''Speed juniors''
IFSC Climbing World Cup
The IFSC Climbing World Cup is a series of climbing competitions held annually and organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). The athletes compete in three disciplines: lead, bouldering and speed. The number of competitions and venues vary from year to year. The first World Cup was held in 1989, and included only lead climbing events. Speed climbing was introduced in 1998 and bouldering in 1999.
''Men's speed''