The Italian city of Arco hosted the World climbing youth championship 2026, bringing together more than 750 participants from 69 countries in the three main disciplines (lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering) across the U17 and U19 age categories.
Five athletes from the Donetsk region competed as members of the Ukrainian national team in the “speed” discipline – representatives of the region’s School of higher sportsmanship and the Donetsk regional specialized professional sports college.
Among female climbers under 19 – a category featuring 33 competitors from 18 countries – the Donetsk region was represented by two athletes.
Polina Khalkevych advanced through the qualifying round with the second-fastest time of 6.706 seconds. She then defeated competitors from the United States and China, and a “neutral” athlete from the aggressor country. Polina’s time in the round of 16 was 6.87 seconds, in the quarterfinals – 6.60 seconds, and in the semifinals – 6.61 seconds. In the final, Khalkevych made an unfortunate mistake and lost to another athlete from China, ultimately taking the silver medal.
Mariia Shymkova finished thirteenth in the competition: she clocked 7.679 seconds in the qualifying round and 7.63 seconds in the round of 16.
Three athletes from the Donetsk region competed in the U17 age group – Anna Falieiva, Vladyslava Panchenko and Roman Ovcharenko – but they were unable to advance to the final round this time. Their times in the qualifying round were 9.018, 10.853, and 7.274 seconds, respectively.
The Donetsk region’s rock climbers were trained by coaches Ihor Tyapkin, Maryna Tkachova and Yaroslav Tkach.