Sports Bulletin Report
Prague (Czechia): The men’s Boulder final at the IFSC World Cup Prague 2024 turned out to be a balanced, hard-fought battle that went down to the very last climber on the very last boulder. Lee Dohyun of South Korea, the gold medal winner at last year’s event in Prague, Czechia, won the second World Cup event of his young career on the very same stage where he took his first one.
“I love Prague! I can’t believe I won again here, how can I explain my feelings? I’m just very happy! There were some tricky moves in the final, some boulders were complicated for me, but I did my best and it paid off,” said the 21-year-old Paris 2024 Olympian, who closed his final with two tops and four zones.
As both boulders number two and three turned out to be impossible to top for all the six finalists, the zone secured by Lee on M3 in his 13th attempt was decisive in separating him from France’s Manuel Cornu. Indeed, the French experienced climber placed second with two tops and three zones, finally stepping back on an IFSC World Cup podium five years after his previous one – in Chongqing, China, in 2019.
Cornu said: “It’s crazy, right? It definitely feels crazy. I don’t have a lot of words tonight. I’m back from a long difficult period. One year ago, here in Prague, the first words to my coach after the qualification round were ‘It’s over for me’. And now I’m here, on the podium. I didn’t think it was possible for both [Anraku] Sorato and [Narasaki] Tomoa to fall on the fourth boulder. So I was quite sure I was going to get fourth place. I was very surprised.”
Paris 2024 champion Toby Roberts of Great Britain finished in third place and pocketed bronze with two tops and two zones. The men’s Boulder & Lead gold medallist at this year’s Olympics, Roberts was coming from the men’s Lead gold he won at the IFSC World Cup Koper 2024, earlier this month.
Roberts said: “I am so psyched! It was a strange final, I never thought I could be on the podium, but I did not give up, I was able to put it together and find the top on the final boulder. I can’t quite believe I’m on the podium, but I am really happy.”
Paris 2024 silver medal winner Anraku Sorato of Japan placed just outside of the medal positions, taking fourth place with one top and four zones. His more experienced teammate Narasaki Tomoa followed in fifth, also with one and four, while the crowd’s favourite Adam Ondra, climbing on home turf, concluded with one top and three zones.
