TEHRAN – Behnam Khalaji of Iran won a gold medal at the IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships.

Khalaji, who had won a gold medal at the IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria last year, defended his title with two qualification tops and an even faster pace, one minute and seven seconds.

Benjamin Mayforth from the U.S. came second and Manikandan Kumar finished third.

The competition featured a record number of participants with 167 athletes registered to attend. The event took place from July 16 to 17 at Parc des Sports in Briançon, France where elite athletes from 24 countries took on the lead wall.

The IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships are the biennial world championships for competition climbing for people with disabilities organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).

This event determines the male and female world champions in various categories.

The first event was organized in Arco in 2011, held together with the IFSC Climbing World Championships.