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.
Contents
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
Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup
Notable ascents
Redpointed routes
9a (5.14d):
Robi in the Sky - Calanques (FRA) - 2000 - First ascent
8c+ (5.14c):
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)
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)