Japanese sport climbers dominate Boulder qualification at World Cup in Innsbruck
Ito Futaba and Stasa Gejo lead the women's field in Austria, with Japan's Ogata Yoshiyuki and Kawamata Rei topping the men's qualifying round.
Sport Climbing
Japan are continuing their storied success in Sport Climbing this year taking three of the four top spots in Boulder qualifying at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria on Wednesday (22 June).
The sixth event of the 2022 World Cup Series is taking place from June 22 to 26 and the opening Boulder qualification rounds saw the women and men compete simultaneously.
Japan's Ogata Yoshiyuki and Kawamata Rei were in charge of the men's competition finishing top of their respective groups. Fellow Japanese climbers Yamaguchi Kento, Narasaki Tomoa, Fujii Kokoro, and Takata Tomoaki also qualified for the semi-finals.
In the women's competition, fellow Japanese Ito Futaba jointly topped the qualification standings with Serbia's Stasa Gego. Futaba is still hunting her first World Cup medal while the medallists from the previous event in Brixen Italy, all progressed to the semi-finals: USA's Natalia Grossman, Germany's Hannah Meul, and Zhilu Luo of China.
Olympic silver medallist Nonaka Miho also advanced.
Boulder involves problem-solving tactics to complete as many routes possible up a four-metre wall.
You can find the full results of the Boulder qualification round here for women and here for men.
The Boulder finals will take place on June 23 and 24 June, followed by the Lead events which start on June 25 at the Kletterzentrum Innsbruck.
The semi-finals and finals in Innsbruck will be streamed live on Olympic Channel via olympics.com (territorial restrictions apply).
Schedule: IFSC Climbing World Cup Innsbruck 2022
Competition continues this week with some events available to be streamed on Olympic Channel HERE.
(Territorial restrictions may apply)
Schedule (UTC +2:00)
Thursday June 23
13:00 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Boulder Men's Semifinals
19:45 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Boulder Men's Final
Friday June 24
13:00 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Boulder Women's Semifinals
19:45 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Boulder Women's Final
Saturday 25 June
09:00 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Lead Qualification
19:00 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Lead Semifinals
Sunday June 26
19:00 - IFSC Climbing World Cup: Lead Women Final
Followed by: IFSC Climbing World Cup: Lead Men Final