World Climbing Series Guiyang

After two months apart, Watson and Zhao赵一程Zhào Yīchéngcompetes as Zhao Yicheng clash again, back on the home soil of the world record holder, as the series returns to Guiyang in Guizhou.

Watson comes off two months of training and a public relocation to his hometown of Dallas, seeking a rematch and a chance to take the world record title back. Zhao has had the same two months of rest and competes stronger when defending home turf. Between the Wujiang stop, the Sanya Asian Beach Games and the national games in Guangzhou, he rarely loses a race in China.

Zhao has called out Watson for 玄学xuánxuéLiterally 'mysterious learning'. In sports talk, the unexplainable factor, a jinx or a curse that no amount of form can account for., an unexplainable curse on the American, who has competed at nine world-level events in China and has yet to win one, almost always running into a Chinese athlete on the way. Guiyang has its own history of heartbreak for him: a slip in the first round here cost him a near-certain series title in 2025 and left him tenth, his lowest finish since 2022.

Emma Hunt returns holding both the women's and mixed relay world records and looking to add to the stack, with Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi narrowing the gap toward six seconds behind her. Watson and Zach Hammer have the capability to recapture the men's relay world record, but Zhao, Long Jianguo龙见国Lóng Jiànguó and Chu Shouhong储守宏Chǔ Shǒuhóng have home advantage.