The penultimate round of this year’s IFSC sport climbing world cup proved to be a thrilling watch over the weekend, with closely contested victories in both the men’s and women’s boulder competitions.
Trailing until the final round, American climber Natalia Grossman snatched victory with an inspired final climb, negotiating a complex problem with resilience and composure.
Grossman’s win represents a return to form for the 23-year-old, who struggled through an Olympic campaign in which she failed to make the semi-finals. Providing a hefty points boost, gold in Prague has skyrocketed the American into joint first on the world cup leaderboard, level on points with Slovenian legend Janja Garnbret.
Despite a stellar campaign, double Olympic champion Garnbret failed to make the podium, with France’s Naïlé Meignan taking silver and Australia’s Oceania MacKenzie winning her first ever world cup medal with bronze.
In the men’s competition, South Korea’s Lee Dohyun bested the bookies favorites, returning to Prague to win his second career world cup gold in the very city he snagged his first, this time last year.
Alongside the 21-year-old was veteran Frenchman Manuel Cornu, who returned to the IFSC podium for the first time in five years with a hard-fought second place finish. Great Britain’s Toby Roberts claimed bronze, banishing competition leader Sorato Anraku from the podium.
Despite his failings, Japanese prodigy Anraku remains in pole position on the men’s boulder rankings, boasting an almost unassailable lead with one round to go.
Split over nine legs, the IFSC world cup pits the world's best climbers against each other in speed climbing, lead climbing and bouldering - with a points system deciding the eventual winners.
Taking place from October 2 to October 6, the final round will decide climbing’s world champions for the next year, and is free to watch live on the IFSC Youtube channel.
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