Sports Bulletin

A qualification event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on November 24 to 26, 2023Sports Bulletin ReportMelbourne (Australia): Melbourne will host the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Oceania Qualifier 2023, a qualification event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, from 24 – 26 November this year.Located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Urban Climb Blackburn will welcome climbers from the Oceania region in the Speed and Boulder & Lead disciplines for both men and women with Olympic qualification at stake.There will be four Paris 2024 spots available including, one men’s Speed, one women’s Speed, one men’s Boulder & Lead and one women’s Boulder & Lead.As an important qualifier, Melbourne was chosen as the ideal spot to host the event with its rich Olympic history as the first hosts of an Olympic Games staged in the Southern hemisphere in 1956.IFSC President Marco Scolaris said: “Melbourne is a perfect city to host such an important event for the region and on the road to Paris. It will be the second time that Australia has been part of our Olympic journey, and in cities with great historic links to the Games.“From the first Oceania qualifier for Tokyo 2020 in Sydney, and now Melbourne for Paris 2024, Australia has been with us every step of our Olympic journey so far. I look forward to an exciting event with our friends at Sport Climbing Australia and welcoming more athlete’s that will join us at our second Olympic competition.”

Sports Bulletin ReportChamonix (France): The IFSC World Cup 2023 series rolls on to the foot of Mont-Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, for another round of Lead and Speed Climbing for the IFSC World Cup Chamonix from 7 to 9 July.Making the short trip across the border from Villars, Switzerland, to the French mountain town, over 300 climbers in the two Climbing disciplines will once again battle it out for podium spots.Long Jianguo took his second successive Villars gold medal in Speed, and the Chinese climber is hoping to transfer a little of that Swiss magic into another podium performance the other side of the border.Defending Chamonix champion Long Jinbao will be pushing his teammate, as well as last week’s silver medallist Zhang Liang. With a strong squad you wouldn’t bet against another men’s Chinese medal.Expect fireworks in the men’s Speed when you also throw in USA’s Samuel Watson, Spain’s Erik Noya Cardona, Japan’s first ever men's Speed medallist from Villars Omasa Ryo and a few home nation athletes like Bassa Mawem to get the crowd going.On the women’s side, Poland’s Natalia Kalucka took her first ever World Cup gold last week, and a short time before that, gold at the European Games beating teammate and world record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw. Is a trio of golds on for Kalucka or can she be stopped?

Sports Bulletin ReportVillars (Switzerland):-The third and final IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup of the 2023 season will take place in Villars, Switzerland, from 23 to 24 June with 155 athletes from 21 nations aiming for a place on the podium.IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup Villars will pit athletes ranging from physical and visual impairments to range and power impairments against each other either looking to defend medals, go for a series clean sweep or take some new golden confidence forward into the summer showpiece.One women looking for a clean sweep in the AL2 in 2023 is world champion Lucie Jarrige of France who has once again been showing her class taking two golds in the two competitions, but hot on her heels is Australia’s Sarah Larcombe.Larcombe said: “Based on my results so far, my 2023 season is going pretty well. Two World Cups down, two silver medals. I haven’t always been super happy with my climbing so far this season despite good overall results, but I’m learning a lot and I’m taking away a lot to work on.”Despite sporting rivalries, climbing also has the sense of community and respect between the competitors: “I have a great friend and role model in Lucie Jarrige,” said Larcombe, “and it’s always fun trying to keep up with her. The routesetters this year are also clearly challenging us to step up our game, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”“Every comp my aim is to climb my hardest, be as present as possible, and have fun on the wall. This season I don’t think I’ve really been able to show the best of my climbing yet, so that’s one thing I hope I can do better in Villars. 

Sports Bulletin ReportInnsbruck (Austria):- Slovenia’s lady Janja Garnbret lifted gold to do the Boulder and Lead double in Kletterzentrum Innsbruck, Austria in the FISC World Climbing Series. Six nations represented in eight climber women’s Lead final; two Slovenian, two USA, one Japanese, one South Korean, one French and one Austrian.Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret took gold to do the Boulder and Lead double in Innsbruck, who repeated the feat of 2021 when she also won Boulder and Lead gold at the IFSC World Cup Innsbruck. Mori Ai from Japan settled with silver medal. Home crowd pleased as Austrian Jessica Pilz won bronze, first World Cup medal since taking Lead silver in Kranj, Slovenia in 2019.Meanwhile, in the men’s competitions, 9 men contested Lead final due to a tie for eighth in semi-finals. Six nations represented with four climbers from Japan, one from Germany, one from Spain, one from Switzerland, one from France and one from Austria. Sascha Lehmann from Switzerland got gold by reaching hold 44+ while Both Lehmann and Germany’s Alexander Megos reach hold 44+ with semifinal result separating the two rivals.Janja Garnbret (SLO) - women's Lead gold medallist"I loved the route. It was incredible. Even during the observation I knew it was hard, but this is what we like. We like to show how we fight and what we train for, so this is exactly what we got and I enjoyed every minute of it."I’m incredibly grateful to win both the Boulder and Lead, even more grateful because I’m coming back from injury. I’ve never had an injury before so I had no experience or expectations and it’s even more amazing coming back because there were a lot of doubts, crying and just a lot of negative thoughts, so coming back on top I’m incredibly grateful."Jessica Pilz (AUT) - women's Lead bronze medallist"It was super nice to climb at home here. The crowd was amazing. I wasn’t too happy with my climbing, it was tough to stick the move and I wasn’t satisfied when I fell. I thought for sure the others would beat me, so it was a nice surprise for sure to be back on the podium, it’s definitely been a while."It’s great to be on the podium at home, it definitely means more than anywhere else. It feels really good."Sascha Lehmann (SUI) - men's Lead gold medallist"I knew I could climb well and I am a strong climber, but it’s a packed field, we saw that in Boulder with so many young athletes coming in. My Boulder season didn’t go that well so I hoped I could do better in Lead. I worked hard at Lead, but I wasn’t sure where I was at. I know I can perform on the big stage, and I did, so it feels amazing. "You always do a move and think it feels good in the warm-up, and the atmosphere here is great, but in the end when you go out to the route it’s not thinking anymore, it’s just climbing. Do your thing, stay calm, do the moves and perform well." Alexander Megos (GER) - men's Lead silver medallist"I knew I climbed well, but I didn't expected to be on the podium tonight. I think what was remarkable in this competition is that between the first and ninth climber there were only four moves, and nobody made a big mistake. In my mind, if I win a medal it's because I climbed better than the others, not because somebody else made a mistake, so I'm happy to cheer for all the other climbers once I'm done."The next generation is coming, and it's coming fast. Sorato is 16 and he did three rounds in Boulder, then three rounds in Lead, and he doesn't seem to be tired at all. His climbing style is crazy, I'm sure he will win many more medals in the future."Jakob Schubert (AUT) - men's Lead bronze medallist"Obviously it feels amazing having a podium, and having it here in Innsbruck. It's a great start for the Lead season, but also for myself. This one's always a very special World Cup, there is more pressure for sure, more nervousness than any other event, but it's also way more rewarding."Experience can still play an important role, especially in Lead, and I believe we, the old guys, can still compete with the young guns."

Sports Bulletin ReportInnsbruck (Austria):-The sixth and last Boulder competition of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup Series 2023 concluded at the Kletterzentrum in Innsbruck, Austria.Earning himself the headline of the night was Japanese rising start Anraku Sorato, who, at 16 years old, was able to pocket both his first World Cup gold medal, and the men’s Boulder 2023 title.Sorato, who previously won silver at this year’s IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, climbed atop the podium with a performance made of three tops and three zones, but also being very close solve problem number three – a creative slab featuring a run-start and a 180° spin.Following in silver-medal position was Japan’s Narasaki Meichi – younger brother of Olympian and multiple-medal winner Tomoa. Differently from Anraku, Narasaki managed to solve the slab – securing the top with only a couple of seconds left on the clock – but scored zero on boulder number two, eventually finishing with three tops, three zones, and four attempts to top more than his teammate.Making his first appearance in a World Cup final round, Sam Avezou of France put the icing on his cake by winning bronze with two tops and two zones. South Korea’s Chon Jongwon barely missed the podium, finishing in fourth position with two tops, two zones, and a higher number of attempts than Avezou.Coming from first and fourth places in the semi-final round, respectively, Belgium’s Simon Lorenzi and Nicolas Collin closed in the bottom two positions. Collin concluded fifth with two tops and two zones, while Lorenzi took sixth place with no score on the board.Making his night even more memorable, Anraku Sorato was also awarded with the men’s Boulder season trophy, having surpassed South Korea’s Lee Dohyun with the 1,000 points he took in Innsbruck. Lee eventually placed second, and Narasaki Tomoa followed in third place.

Sports Bulletin ReportInnsbruck (Austria):-Raboutou led stellar lineup into Women’s Boulder Final of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup Innsbruck 2023 closed with the women’s Boulder semi-final round, selecting the top six athletes advancing into night’s final.Signing off with a fantastic four-tops performance was Tokyo 2020 Olympian Brooke Raboutou, of the USA, who was the only climber able to top all four boulders in the round, despite a consistent number of attempts.Raboutou – who podiumed at the three previous World Cups she participated in in 2023, collecting one gold and two bronzes – was joined by her friend and teammate Natalia Grossman – current leader of the women’s Boulder World Cup ranking, and winner of the season trophy in 2021 and 2022.“Semi-final was hard. It felt a bit weird doing qualification in the morning and then semi-final in the evening, especially as we competed a few days ago,” she said, after finishing fifth with three tops and four zones. “Mentally I’m trying to allow myself breaks because it is tiring just being in competition mood for a week. It doesn’t need to be long breaks, even just between qualifiers and semis I tried not to think about climbing at all and try to disconnect a little, I guess.”Just ahead of Grossman placed current Olympic Champion Janja Garnbret, who beat the buzzer on problem number three, and was only able to secure the zone on the fourth one – the slab.“I enjoyed it a lot, especially beating the buzzer on the second boulder which was so nice. I don’t think I’ve ever had that in my entire life. I had less than 30 seconds probably and I thought about heading back in, but then I just thought to myself ‘let’s give it a go’, and luckily it worked out for me,” said Garnbret.“I’m just so excited to be back. I had around eight months out, and my first competition back was in Prague, I’m still trying to get my competition flow, so I’m just enjoying things at the moment. I still don’t feel completely comfortable on slabs because I couldn’t do them in the past months, so I’m still trying to find the balance and feeling again.”Second and third place in the round were taken by Japanese duo Ito Futaba and Nonaka Miho, respectively, both with the same score as Grossman and Garnbret – three tops and four zones – but lower numbers of attempts to top.Ito said: “It was good. The boulders were so fun. I feel good now and I’m really enjoying the boulders here. I’m excited for the final and I hope I can get a medal, but everyone in the final is really strong so it’s not going to be easy.”

Sports Bulletin ReportBrixen (Italy):-With the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup events coming thick and fast, the circuit moves on to Brixen, Italy, for the sixth event of the season from 9 to 11 June 2023.Taking place at the Vertikale Kletterzentrum Brixen for the second consecutive year, the focus is once again on Boulder as the climbers move from Prague, Czech Republic, last weekend to Northern Italy this weekend.In the men’s competition, last year’s gold medallist Yannick Flohé of Germany will be joined by silver medallist Maximillian Milne of Great Britain and Narasaki Tomoa of Japan who took bronze.The three are among 96 competitors registered to start, a start list that also includes South Korea’s 20-year-old Lee Dohyun, who was on fire last week taking the IFSC World Cup Prague title, and the man he beat to gold, Adam Ondra from the Czech Republic.Just like the men, the women’s 2022 podium is in attendance with gold medallist Natalia Grossman of the USA, silver medallist Hannah Meul of Germany and bronze medallist Luo Zhilu of China among the 86 registered entrants.Looking to carry on medal winning ways will be France’s Flavy Cohaut who makes the trip from Prague with a World Cup bronze as part of her luggage.There will be a fair bit of local interest for the home crowds with the Italian team fielding 13 climbers in Brixen.One of those is 21-year-old Camilla Moroni. Moroni has experienced standing on a podium in Brixen when she won silver at the Youth European Championships in 2019, but the Italian climber is focussing on a different goal than medals.

Sports Bulletin ReportTorino (Italy):-The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) has announced that the competition format for Sport Climbing at The World Games Chengdu have been approved and will be included a new individual event, scheduled to take place from August 7 to 17, 2023 Chengdu, China.For the very first time, there will be three separate Speed events for men and women that will feature the new individual four-lane competition alongside the team four-lane event, which was first introduced at the Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and will also be part of the programme for the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 slated to take place later this year.Both events will join the traditional individual two-lane competition and will see a total of 36 female and 36 male athletes competing across the six medal events.IFSC President Scolaris said:“The appetite for Sport Climbing around the world is growing, and especially the Speed discipline throughout the Asian region. With The World Games 2025 in China, it is a perfect opportunity to showcase some new formats of Speed climbing at a top-class multi-sport event.“We are predominantly an individual sport, but now everyone watching will be treated to some fast and furious racing with a rare opportunity for the athletes to win and share medals alongside their international teammates.”Sport Climbing has been a part of The World Games programme since 2005, when the event took place in Duisburg, Germany. That event included Speed and Lead disciplines. For the last two editions of the event in 2017 and 2022, Boulder was also included.The decision reached by the IFSC and the IWGA Executive Committee to include only Speed disciplines in the programme for 2025 is based on several important factors, including popularity, sustainability, cost efficiency, and the growth of Sport Climbing. 

Sports Bulletin ReportPrague (Czech Republic):-The French teenager girl Oriane Bertone won the first-ever gold medal in the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup Series 2023 that concluded here on Sunday.France’s 18-year-old climber Oriane Bertone, seeded sixth at the end of the semi-final round, upset the entire field of competitors and took the first World Cup gold medal of her career. On her way to the top of the podium, Bertone flashed two out four boulders, also topping W1 at the second try, and concluding with three tops and four zones.Gold medalist Oriane Bertone said:“I knew that if didn’t try boulder number 4 at my best, my coach would have killed me. I knew I had to take the zone to win, and when I did, I saw my coaches go crazy, but I wanted my competition to be complete, so I had to stay concentrated. It was amazing, one of the best feelings I ever had. I love Flavy, she’s my friend and my teammate, and I’m so happy to be on the podium with her”.French national coach, Nico Jaunel said:“It’s been a great event, and a great season. We have a young team and we work very hard to make these results possible. Today, with Janja Garnbret coming back, it was not easy, so we are very happy to have two athletes on the podium, very happy for them. It’s good to see that our hard work is paying off.”The IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 kicked off a three-week long series of events that will continue in Brixen, Italy, from June 9 to 11, and Innsbruck, Austria, from 14 to 18 June. 

Sports Bulletin ReportPrague (Czech Republic):-Lee Dohyun has lifted the first gold medal in the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup Prague 2023, as the six finalists of the men’s Boulder event on the stage of the prestigious climbing fixture.20-year-old Lee Dohyun from South Korea overcame all four problems in the round, flashing three of them. Also finishing with four tops was the crowd’s favourite, Adam Ondra of the Czech Republic, who eventually placed behind Lee because of a higher number of attempts to top.“I can’t believe it, I’m just so happy,” said an emotional Lee just before the medal ceremony. “Thank you all for the support,” he then concluded, turning towards the crowd.“It’s been so nice to be back on the circuit, especially in my home country. It’s been 13 years since the last World Cup event in Czechia, and the only one I participated in was in my hometown of Brno, when I was 16 and I barely missed the final, it was so frustrating, so this is a good revenge!” said Ondra.It is Lee’s first-ever World Cup medal, and Ondra’s 15th World Cup podium in the Boulder discipline.