Natalia Grossman, Ogata Yoshiyuki take boulder finals at 2nd weekend of World Cup in Salt Lake City

Natalia Grossman won the women's boulder final to make it three in a row at the IFSC World Cup on Sunday (29 May).

The 20--year-old American swept both weekends in Salt Lake City to continue her stellar start to the season. She also won in Seoul earlier this month.

Ogata Yoshiyuki topped the men's final for Japan.

Climbing high

Grossman is the runaway leader in the World Cup boulder rankings following her latest victory. The Boulder, Colorado, native was the only climber among her peers to solve all four boulders.

Joining Grossman on the podium was Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games silver medallist Nonaka Miho, who took second.

Grossman's friend and world No. 2 Brooke Raboutou went home with bronze. The two are getting fast used to sharing the podium, having been in the medals now at three consecutive events.

"It's still special every time but we're getting a little more used to it, which is pretty fun", Grossman told Olympics.com. "We're just excited to be on the top together and pushing our limits".

In the men's competition, Ogata snared Japan's third gold of the campaign as the third different climber, joining Narasaki Tomoa and Fujii Kokoro.

Fujii was third on this night while Slovenia's Anze Peharc finished runner-up. Ogata edged Peharc for the top spot due to a better semi-final, after they ended up with the exact same result in the final.

Ogata firmly holds the men's world No. 1 ranking having reached the podium in all four events to start the season.

"This year I placed second in the first World Cup, then again third in Seoul, and second here last week, I was dreaming of taking the top of the podium and I’m very happy it finally happened!” Ogata said according to the IFSC website.

The next stop of the World Cup is in Brixen, Italy, from 10-12 June.