Sport climbing: Natalia Grossman, Yannick Flohé top qualification at Boulder World Cup in Brixen
The American and France's Fanny Gibert lead the field of 20 women's qualifiers to Saturday's semi-final in Italy which is live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com. Flohé and Hamish McArthur best in the men's.
Sport Climbing
Natalia Grossman of the United States and Fanny Gibert of France will lead the top 20 women's sport climbers into the semi-finals of the Boulder World Cup in Brixen, Italy, this Saturday (11 June 2022) after jointly topping the qualification standings on Friday.
On the men's side, Germany's Yannick Flohé and Great Britain's Hamish McArthur were the top finishers.
The semi-finals and finals of the Boulder World Cup in Brixen will be streamed live on Olympic Channel via olympics.com (territorial restrictions apply), with the women's event on Saturday and the men's on Sunday.
Grossman favourite for women's crown
American Grossman is the red-hot favourite to win again in Brixen, having won the last three World Cup events in a row. She clinched a pair of victories on home soil in Salt Lake City, as well as an event in Seoul, South Korea, last month.
The 20-year-old also finished second in the season-opening event in April behind Olympic champion Janja Garnbret, who has since taken a competition sabbatical.
Olympic silver medallist Nonaka Miho of Japan, third and second in Salt Lake City, barely made the semis with a three-tops, five-zone (3t5z 3 9) effort, qualifying in joint-17th place.
Also through to the semi-finals are Olympic finallists Jessica Pilz of Austria and South Korea's Seo Chaehyun. Switzerland's Petra Klingler, another Tokyo 2020 Olympian, qualified joint-19th.
The men's qualifying saw Flohé and McArthur tied atop the leaderboard with Japanese teammates Ogata Yoshiyuki and Fujii Kokoro in joint third. Korea's Lee Dohyun and 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Jakob Schubert of Austria rounded out the top five.
Full results from the qualifying are here.