PARIS, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Song Yiling narrowly missed out on a place in the women's final at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Combined Qualifier in Tournefeuille, France, but still secured a ticket to next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The four days of competition in Toulouse grant quota places to an additional six athletes per gender for Tokyo 2020, after the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships had determined seven places each for men and women.
Japan's Ai Mori led the overall rankings with 44 points, advancing to the eight-woman final together with compatriot Futaba Ito, who finished fifth.
But they won't receive invites to Tokyo 2020 as Japan was already guaranteed full representation as the host of next year's Olympics. Each National Olympic Committee is limited to a maximum of two athletes in sport climbing.
Lucka Rakovec of Slovenia, who placed second overall behind Mori on Friday, had already obtained an Olympic spot by finishing top seven in the world championships.
That means five climbers - Laura Rogora of Italy, Julie Chanourdie of France, Iuliaa Kaplina of Russia, Kyra Condie of the United States, and Song, who was ninth in the qualification round, will be invited to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Kaplina came out on top in women's speed qualification, clocking a time of 7.370 seconds. She was followed in the standings by Song in 7.421 and Indonesia's Aries Susanti Rahayu in 7.463.
Following the 2019 IFSC World Cup season, the top 22 athletes from each gender in the combined ranking, not already qualified for Tokyo 2020, were invited to participate in the IFSC Combined Qualifier.
A climber's overall standing is determined by multiplying their place in each of the speed, lead and boulder events, with the lowest scores ranking the highest. If a climber places first in boulder, third in speed and fifth and lead, than their score will be 15.
