The IFSC Lead circuit returned to the Swiss alpine town of Villars last weekend, where circuit stalwarts Janja Garnbret and Jakob Schubert took the top spots in a field packed with potential. As is typical for the Villars round, humidity was high, with heavy sideways rain and low-lying cloud adding to the usual high-energy Alpine atmosphere.

In the semi-finals, GB Climbing's Molly Thompson-Smith showed her consistency by earning her second top-10 placement in a row, finishing in 9th place once again and narrowly missing out on finals.

Hamish McArthur also qualified for semi-finals after a self-confessed bumpy start to the competition season this year. He finished in a respectable 14th place. 

Expectations were high for rising young British star Toby Roberts - fresh from his win in the Brixen Boulder World Cup and some well-earned rest/training at home - as he qualified for the semi-finals in 3rd place behind none other than Adam Ondra and Jakob Schubert. He then qualified for finals in 5th, his first Lead final since his bronze medal performance in Edinburgh in 2022.

Men's final

The men's route was varied in style and visually interesting, although most men made it to the headwall where the meat of the route began. Yufei Pan (CHN) set a strong highpoint of 34, which was soon surpassed by Alex Megos (GER), who appeared comfortable (even using a hand jam) until a sudden slip high up. Alex clearly enjoys climbing in Villars, having placed 2nd here in 2021.

Toby Roberts (GBR) confidently campused his way to the headwall before falling just below Alex's highpoint, showing the 'try hard' determination that he has come to be known for so far this season. Austria's Jakob Schubert appeared equally unphased until a surprise slip just a bit higher on dual-tex holds.

Adam Ondra (CZE) reached one move below Jakob. Colin Duffy (USA) had topped the semi-final route, and delivered a gutsy climb in the finals until a footwork error cost him further progress.

All eyes were on the young Japanese upstart Sorato Anraku (JPN) - a debut Boulder World Cup winner this season - who had qualified in 1st for finals, but unfortunately he could only reach 6th place after an early fall.

Jakob's highpoint held, and the podium consisted of three legends of the sport - Schubert, Ondra and Megos - with a combined age of 91. The three climbers joked about forming 'one of the oldest podiums ever', although they replicated their combined feat in Chamonix 2019 and in the 2019 IFSC World Championships in Hachioji.

Until this weekend, Jakob and Adam were tied on 22 World Cup wins across all disciplines, and Jakob's latest win earned him the men's medal record at 23 golds (20 Lead, 3 Boulder).

Jakob told the IFSC: "It feels so amazing, it's been a while especially in the World Cup. I spoke to Adam [Ondra] and Alex [Megos] in Innsbruck, the field is so strong now it's an achievement just to make finals. Going against these old guys, and the youngsters, it was amazing to come out on top today. It also feels amazing to be on the podium with two great friends. We were discussing if this is the oldest podium. The old guys dominated today."

Alex adds this bronze medal to a silver at Innsbruck two weeks ago, showing that he is on good Lead form currently ahead of the Bern World Championships.

Toby Roberts (GBR) finished 4th, his second-best Lead rank after his 3rd place in Edinburgh last year and an impressive feat behind such big names in the sport (all of whom are Olympians). 

Making finals and finishing 8th was a personal best for Shion Omata (JPN), another climber from Japan's increasingly deep pool of talent.

The route was a resounding success for the setters as far as separation is concerned, with no two men attaining the same score. 

Women's final

In the qualification and semi-final rounds, one woman was ahead of the rest: Janja Garnbret (SLO).

For the women's final, the route setters had prepared a never-before-seen move on a Lead route - a 180 degree spin in which the climber would face the crowd - as seen in the men's Boulder final in Innsbruck. There were some doubts as to whether the move would work, or even whether the athletes would spot the trick during observation. 

Jessy Pilz (AUT) qualified uncharacteristically low and climbed first, easily managing a coordination jump. She stumbled at the spin move, before completing it in a more conventional manner by matching feet and hands rather than rotating and crossing through. Her score of 43+ - reaching a mantle just below the Top - set an ambitious highpoint for the rest of the field.

Jain Kim (KOR) made her first final since returning to the circuit post-pregnancy and after a planned retirement. She told IFSC commentator Matt Groom that her reason for competing once again was "to make her daughter proud." In her typical slow and steady style, Jain managed the coordination jump and fell a few moves higher.

Mia Krampl (SLO) stunned the crowd as she attempted Jessy's non-spin beta, before doing exactly as the route setters intended and rotating to face the audience and falling a few moves below Jessy's highpoint after a slip.

Natsuki Tanii (JPN) fell prematurely after another slip a few moves below Mia.

Chaehyun Seo (KOR) has shown remarkable consistency in making every final in every Lead World Cup that she has entered - a feat not even Janja has achieved. Chaehyun looked composed until some hesitation near the top, bringing her one + below Jessy.

Brooke Raboutou (USA) climbed conservatively and a little too slowly as she navigated the spin move in the more conventional way before timing out on the headwall and frantically racing to the last move, earning a score of 43 — the subject of a time-related appeal by the Korean team, which was ultimately rejected, leaving Brooke in 3rd and Chaehyun in 4th.

Janja Garnbret (SLO) initially hesitated at the crux spin, before committing to the rotation - much to the crowd's delight. In a perfectly-timed climb, she topped out to secure her 25th Lead World Cup gold medal, her 40th medal across all disciplines and her seventh win in a row in Villars ahead of Jessy Pilz (AUT) and Brooke Raboutou (USA). In her post-climb interview, she commented that she had found the route "very easy."

She added: "It feels incredible [to win]. I've always loved Villars. I've always loved coming here and I feel a bit like it's my competition and it's home here. After Innsbruck I felt confident and I can see my Lead shape is there. I have been climbing with confidence and that's how I have climbed in the finals here."

Jessy's silver followed her 3rd place in Innsbruck, proving that like her compatriot Jakob Schubert, she is on form for Bern. First-time Austrian finalist Mattea Pötzi also posted a personal best, finishing 8th in the final.

Speed

In the Speed finals on Sunday, China's Long Jianguo won his second gold medal in a row in Villars, having also won here last year. He told the IFSC:

"I feel so lucky and happy because last year I won gold here as well, so Villars is definitely my lucky place. I'm so happy. I hope I the World Championships it will go easily and smoothly, a bit like today and I can qualify for the Paris Olympics."

Veddriq Leonardo (INA) set the fastest men's time of 4.97 seconds and finished 5th. 

Natalia Kalucka (POL) won her first ever Speed World Cup medal. She commented:

"I'm really proud of myself. I want to say thanks to my team, I can't really believe that I've won my first gold World Cup gold. I've won lots of World Cup medals but never a gold. Until now."

Lijuan Deng (CHN) recorded the fastest women's time of 6.49 seconds, while Emma Hunt (USA) set a Panamerican record of 6.68 seconds.