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.

François Legrand

Legrand in 2012
Personal information
Born	(1970-03-26) March 26, 1970 (age 54) Grenoble, France
Occupation	Professional rock climber
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)
Climbing career
Type of climber	Sport climbing Competition climbing
Highest grade	Redpoint: 9a (5.14d) On-sight: 8b (5.13d)
Known for	Winning 5 Lead Climbing World Cups and 3 Lead Climbing World Championships
Retired	2003
Medal record IFSC Climbing World Cup Winner 1990 Lead Winner 1991 Lead Winner 1992 Lead Winner 1993 Lead 1994 Lead 1995 Lead Winner 1997 Lead 1999 Lead IFSC Climbing World Championships Winner 1991 Lead Winner 1993 Lead Winner 1995 Lead Rock Master Winner 1990 Lead Winner 1994 Lead Winner 1997 Lead Winner 1998 Lead
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

See also: Best IFSC results

Climbing World Cup

Discipline[3]	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

Discipline[4]	1991	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003
Lead	1	1	1	3	11	20	45

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead

Season[4]	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):

• Le Plafond - Volx (FRA) - His first 8c
• Maginot Line - Volx (FRA)
• Macumba Club - Orgon (FRA)
• Injustice - Orgon (FRA)
• U.F.O. - Calanques (FRA)
• Pterodactile - Tolone (FRA)
• Moutchiki - Luberon (FRA)
• Facile - Mount Charleston (USA)

See also

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

References

1. Nicola Noè. "Arrampicare con François Legrand". planetmountain.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2003. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
2. "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.
3. IFSC, ed. (July 20, 2017). "World Cup Rankings". Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
4. IFSC, ed. (April 30, 2019). "Legrand's profile and rankings". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
5. Nicola Noè (December 31, 2000). "Legrand libera "Robi in the Sky", Les Goudes (Calanques)". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
6. Nicola Noè (March 23, 2002). "Necessary Evil 8c+ USA per Legrand". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
7. Roberto Fioravanti, Björn Pohl (August 25, 2000). "François Legrand sale "Ghetto Booty" 8c+/9a in America". planetmountain.com. Retrieved December 21, 2012.

External links