Picture by International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)
Slovenian climbing phenom Janja Garnbret kicked off the lead season on a high note with a top in the women’s final at the IFSC Climbing World Cup in Wujiang, People's Republic of China on Sunday (14 April).
The Olympic champion won the season-opening lead competition just days after she did the same in the boulder discipline in Shaoxing Keqiao.
Garnbret once again highlighted her dominance in the sport as the only one of the eight finalists to top the route and bag the lead World Cup gold medal. The 25-year-old achieved the same feat the day before in the semi-final.
China’s Luo Zhilu (44+) and Seo Chae-hyun (43) of the Republic of Korea were the best of the rest finishing second and third, respectively.
“I was just having a lot of fun, and I was just excited to be back competing,” Garnbret told the IFSC afterwards.
“I had a good start in the bouldering (in Shaoxing Keqiao) so I hoped the same would go with lead.”
Garnbret revealed she would return to training before making her return for her final competition before Paris 2024 at the World Cup in Innsbruck in June, where she will compete in both boulder and lead.
The 18-year-old Luo claimed her first podium place in lead climbing, while Japan’s Oda Natsumi made a promising World Cup debut to reach the final and finish in sixth place with 34+.
The men’s competition came down to the wire, with rising British star Toby Roberts winning his second World Cup lead title by the skin of his teeth.
Roberts and Japan’s Homma Taisei were both tied on 36+ points, with the former claiming the victory on countback.
Homma, who finished fifth in the semi-final, expertly navigated the route that proved tricky to most of the climbers moving into pole position early in the final. The top three finishers were the only climbers to score 30 points or more.
Japanese sensation Anraku Sorato came painstakingly close to leapfrogging his compatriot but had to be content with third place with a score of 32+.
Roberts brought the competition to a climactic end as the last climber out on the mat, where a last-gasp jump proved enough for him to relegate Homma to second place.
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