Muriel Sarkany

Muriel Sarkany

Muriel Sarkany in 2012
Personal information
Nationality	Belgian
Born	(1974-08-05) August 5, 1974 (age 50) Brussels, Belgium
Occupation	Professional rock climber
Height	153 cm (5 ft 0 in)
Weight	47 kg (104 lb)
Website	Instagram page
Climbing career
Type of climber	Competition lead climbing Sport climbing
Highest grade	Redpoint:  9a  (5.14d)
Known for	First person, male or female, to win the annual lead climbing World Cup 5 times, 4th Woman in history to climb 9a  (5.14d)
Medal record Women's competition climbing Representing   Belgium World Cup Winner 1997 Lead 1998 Lead Winner 1999 Lead 2000 Lead Winner 2001 Lead Winner 2002 Lead Winner 2003 Lead 2004 Lead 2007 Lead World Championships 1997 Lead 1999 Lead 2001 Lead Winner 2003 Lead 2007 Lead European Champion Winner 1998 Lead 2002 Lead Rock Master Winner 1999 Lead Winner 2000 Lead Winner 2001 Lead
Updated on October 16, 2017

Muriel Sarkany (born August 5, 1974) is a Belgian professional rock climber who specialized in competition lead climbing where she is known for winning five Climbing World Cups. She also specialized in outdoor sport climbing and is considered the fourth-ever female climber in history to redpoint a 9a  (5.14d)-graded route, which was PuntX, in Gorges du Loup, in FRA.

Climbing career

Competition climbing

Sarkany started climbing at the age of 17 and at the age of 18 started participating in international lead climbing competitions. She became Youth World Champion in Basel in 1992.

She won the silver medal three times for lead climbing at the World Championships (1997, 1999, and 2001), and the gold medal in 2003. ^[1]

Sarkany was the 1998 European Lead Champion and won the bronze medal at the 2002 European Lead Championships.

After a break from competition climbing in 2005 and 2006, she returned in 2007 to win the silver medal at the World Championships in Avilles, and the bronze medal at the World Cup that year.

She won the Lead Climbing World Cup 5 times in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

She retired in 2010, and as of 2022, still holds the record for the most Lead World Cup gold medals (male or female).

Rock climbing

After retiring from competition climbing, Sarkany devoted herself to outdoor rock climbing. In November 2013, at the age of 39, she became the fourth-ever woman in history to climb a 9a  (5.14d) graded route when she ascended PuntX in the (Gorges du Loup, FRA).

In 2016, at 43 years old, Sarkany ascended Era Vella in Margalef in Spain, becoming the first woman aged over 40 to climb a 9a  (5.14d) graded route.

Rankings

See also: Best IFSC results

World Championships Lead Climbing

Early on, she won a gold medal in the junior category. In the adult difficulty, after three silver medals at the 1997, 1999, and 2001 UIAA Climbing World Championships, Muriel Sarkany became the 2003 World Climbing Champion and is a finalist in the 2007 IFSC Climbing World Championships.

Climbing World Cup

Source: ^[2]

Muriel won 31 podiums at the World Cup of Difficulty.

• Winner of the difficulty world cup for the years 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
• Silver medal for the years 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2004.
• Bronze medal in 2007.

Discipline	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Lead	24	9	5	7	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	2	5	15	3	12	9	20

Climbing World Championships

Source: ^[3]

Discipline	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009
Lead	17	4	2	2	2	1	10	2	24

Climbing European Championships

Source: ^[3]

Discipline	1996	1998	2000	2002	2006	2008	2010
Lead	5	1	5	3	12	13	18
Bouldering	-	-	-	-	-	12	-

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead

Muriel Sarkany competing in Puurs, 2007

Season [3]	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1995		2		2
1996		1		1
1997	3	1		4
1998	1	2		3
1999	1	2	1	4
2000	1	1	2	4
2001	2	3		5
2002	4	2		6
2003	5	1	1	7
2004	3	2	1	6
2006			1	1
2007		3		2
Total	21	20	6	47

Other tributes

She is represented on the Fresque des Wallons  [ fr ] painting in Namur, in Belgium.

Rock climbing

Redpointed routes

9a  (5.14d):

• Era Vella - Margalef (ESP) - September 2017 ^{[4] [5]}
• Punt-X - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - November 21, 2013 - At the time, Sarkany became the 4th female climber in history to climb a 9a route. ^[6]

8c+  (5.14c):

• La Rubia - Villanueva del Rosario (Andalusia, ESP) - November 2016 ^[7]
• Ultimate Sacrifice - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - 2012

8c  (5.14b):

• Ingravids Eskerps - Santa Linya (ESP) - March 8, 2012 ^[8]
• Rollito Sharma Extension - Santa Linya - February 4, 2012
• Last soul sacrifice - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - September 30, 2011
• Quoussaï les maux de la fin - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - September 13, 2011 ^[9]
• Hot chili X - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - August 28, 2011 ^[10]
• Drop City - Antalya (TUR) - April 5, 2008 ^[11]

8b+  (5.14a):

• Hot Chilli Beans Volcano - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - August 7, 2011
• Soul Sacrifice - Gorges du Loup (FRA) - July 25, 2011
• Le mur des cyclopes - Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux(FRA)- March 10, 2011
• Collection automne hiver - Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux (FRA) - October 17, 2010
• Trio Ternura - Santa Linya (ESP) - May 31, 2010 ^[12]
• Rolito Sharma - Santa Linya (ESP) - December 10, 2009 ^[13]
• Philippe cuisinière - Rodellar (ESP) - October 3, 2009
• El chorreras - Rodellar (ESP) - September 29, 2009
• Mortal combat - Castillon (FRA) - December 10, 2003
• Skyline - Bürs (AUT) - July 18, 2003

See also

• List of grade milestones in rock climbing
• History of rock climbing
• Rankings of most career IFSC gold medals

References

1. planetmountain.com, ed. (July 14, 2003). "Sarkany e Mrazek Campioni del mondo Difficoltà. Jenny Lavarda è 4a" . Retrieved March 10, 2012.
2. IFSC, ed. (August 20, 2019). "World Cup Rankings" . Retrieved August 20, 2019.
3. IFSC, ed. (August 20, 2019). "Sarkany's profile and rankings" . Retrieved August 20, 2019.
4. Up-Climbing (ed.). "Sarkany climbs Era Vella in Margalef".
5. Planet Mountain, ed. (30 September 2017). "Sarkany redpoints 9a".
6. Planet Mountain (ed.). "Sarkany climbs 9a at the Gorges du Loup".
7. mountainblog.it (ed.). "Sarkany climbs La Rubla (8c+)".
8. up-climbing.com, ed. (March 10, 2012). "Ancora 8c per Muriel Sarkany". Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
9. planetmountain.com, ed. (September 16, 2011). "Secondo 8c estivo per Muriel Sarkany". Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
10. Björn Pohl (31 August 2011). ukclimbing.com (ed.). "Hot chili X by Muriel Sarkany and more" . Retrieved December 23, 2011.
11. belclimb.be, ed. (April 9, 2008). "First 8c for Muriel" . Retrieved December 23, 2011.
12. belclimb.be, ed. (June 3, 2010). "Muriel Sarkany enchaîne Trio Ternura 8b+". Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
13. belclimb.be, ed. (December 22, 2009). "Muriel Sarkany sent Rollito Sharma 8b+" . Retrieved December 23, 2011.

External links

• Personal website
• theCrag profile
• 8a.nu profile