Zhou Yafei (; born 15 May 2004) is a Chinese competition speed climber. She represented China at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Career Zhou competed at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships and finished in eighth place.
During the first leg of 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, Zhou finished in first place with a personal best time of 6.54 seconds. During the second leg of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, she finished in second place, just 0.02 seconds behind Aleksandra Kałucka. As a result, she qualified to represent China at the 2024 Summer Olympics. During the first race in the qualification round of the women's speed event, Zhou reached the timer first, however, she failed to press it hard enough to stop the clock on the sensor pad. The next race had a similar issue with the clock on the same pad. The sensor was declared defective, which required a half-hour stop in the competition for repairs. She finished the qualification round in fourth place with a personal best time of 6.389 seconds. In the elimination heats, she won her heat against Italy's Beatrice Colli with a time of 6.55. She finished in seventh place after losing in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalist Aleksandra Kałucka of Poland.
On 10 April 2026, she competed at the 2026 World Climbing Asia Championship and won a silver medal with a time of 6.47 seconds. Weeks later, she then competed at the 2026 Asian Beach Games and won a gold medal in the speed event with a time of 6.35 seconds. She also won a bronze medal in the speed relay, along with Deng Lijuan. She was subsequently named China's flag bearer for the closing ceremony. In July 2026, she competed at the 2026 World Climbing Series in Kraków, Poland and won a gold medal in the speed relay, along with Deng. After lowering the world record to 13.02 seconds in the semifinals, they improved it once more in the gold medal race, with a world record time 12.89 seconds to secure the inaugural title. They became the first women's team to complete the relay in under 13 seconds.
Major results IFSC Climbing World Cup Women's speed Year Venue Opponent Time (s) Result Ref 2024 Seoul, South Korea Rajiah Sallsabillah 6.78–8.08 Gold 2025 Bali, Indonesia Aleksandra Miroslaw 8.12-6.37 Silver
Olympic Games Discipline 2024 Speed 7
World championships Discipline 2023 2025 Speed 8 3
World Cup Discipline 2023 2024 2025 Speed 16 50 2
Asian championships Discipline 2022 Speed 10
References
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