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.
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.
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.
Rankings
Climbing World Cup 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 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 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 : Robi in the Sky - Calanques (FRA) - 2000 - First ascent
: Necessary Evil - Virgin River Gorge (USA) - Fifth ascent in 2002 - Route bolted by Chris Sharma in 1997 Getto Booty - Mount Charleston (USA) - 2000 - First ascent Hasta La Vista - Mount Charleston (USA) Le Bronx - Orgon (FRA) La Connexion - Orgon (FRA) Reini's Vibe - Massone (ITA) Claudio Cafè - Terra Promessa (ITA)
: 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
External links