François Legrand (climber)
François Legrand (born March 26, 1970) is a French professional rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and competition climbing, who is known for winning five Lead Climbing World Cups (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997), and three consecutive Lead Climbing World Championships (1991, 1993, 1995). As of 2022, no other climber has matched his achievement in IFSC lead climbing, and as of the end of 2022, Legrand had won the third most IFSC gold medals of any competitive climber in history.
.jpg.webp) Legrand in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | March 26, 1970 Grenoble, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Professional rock climber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Climbing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type of climber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest grade | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Winning 5 Lead Climbing World Cups and 3 Lead Climbing World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on April 30, 2019. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Climbing career
Son of a mountain guide, he spent a lot of time in the mountains since he was a boy. His parents wanted him to become a mountain guide, rather than a rock climber. However, in 1988, aged 18, he ran away and moved for some months into a cave in Buoux. In the same year, he began competing at a national level. In 1990, he moved to Aix-en-Provence, where he rented an apartment with his friend Yuji Hirayama.[1]
In 1990, aged 20, he won his first Lead Climbing World Cups. During his career in competition climbing, which ended in 2003, Legrand won five Lead Climbing World Cups (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997), three consecutive Lead Climbing World Championships (1991, 1993, 1995) and four Rock Masters. As of 2022, no other climber was ever able to match this achievement. The second-ranking for the number of awarded Lead Climbing World Cups is Alexandre Chabot, who won three consecutive times (2001, 2002, 2003).
Since 2009, he is the coach for the French national youth team together with Rémi Samyn.[2]
Rankings
Climbing World Cup[3]
| Discipline | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 16 | - | 20 |
Climbing World Championships[4]
| Discipline | 1991 | 1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 20 | 45 |
Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup
Lead[4]
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 1991 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1992 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 1993 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
| 1994 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1995 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 1996 | ||||
| 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1998 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1999 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2000 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2001 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2002 | ||||
| 2003 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 17 | 11 | 3 | 31 |
Notable ascents
Redpointed routes
9a (5.14d):
- Robi in the Sky - Calanques (FRA) - 2000 - First ascent[5]
8c+ (5.14c):
- Necessary Evil - Virgin River Gorge (USA) - Fifth ascent in 2002 - Route bolted by Chris Sharma in 1997[6]
- Getto Booty - Mount Charleston (USA) - 2000 - First ascent[7]
- Hasta La Vista - Mount Charleston (USA)
- Le Bronx - Orgon (FRA)
- La Connexion - Orgon (FRA)
- Reini's Vibe - Massone (ITA)
- Claudio Cafè - Terra Promessa (ITA)
8c (5.14b):
See also
References
- Nicola Noè. "Arrampicare con François Legrand". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- "François Legrand et Rémy Samyn à la tête des équipes de France jeunes". kairn.com. December 17, 2008. Archived from the original on April 26, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- IFSC, ed. (July 20, 2017). "World Cup Rankings". Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- IFSC, ed. (April 30, 2019). "Legrand's profile and rankings". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- Nicola Noè (December 31, 2000). "Legrand libera "Robi in the Sky", Les Goudes (Calanques)". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- Nicola Noè (March 23, 2002). "Necessary Evil 8c+ USA per Legrand". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- Roberto Fioravanti, Björn Pohl (August 25, 2000). "François Legrand sale "Ghetto Booty" 8c+/9a in America". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2012.