The IFSC Lead World Cup circuit returned to Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes region of France last weekend, where a brand new wall and a festival atmosphere made for an exciting show. Ahead of the IFSC World Championships in Bern in two weeks' time, the field had diminished slightly as athletes juggle training, rest and competition practice in order to maximise their chance of Olympic selection, yet the field remained strong. Vita Lukan (SLO) and Sorato Anraku (JPN) were popular first-time winners in front of a huge crowd.

Three British athletes made semi-finals: Hamish McArthur, Jim Pope and Molly Thompson-Smith. In the men's semi-final, Hamish placed 13th after a frustrating slip on the headwall, while Jim climbed to 21st place to earn a personal best finish for the season so far. Molly climbed smoothly to qualify in 4th place for finals—a relief after just missing out in 9th in the first two events following her ankle break last year.

Throughout the event, the route setting style veered towards more old-school, traditional Lead routes, with fewer volumes, smaller holds and more endurance-based climbing.

Men's final

On the Saturday evening, the men's final line-up consisted of seven Japanese climbers and Sweden's Hannes Puman. This was a record for the highest number of athletes in a final from a single nation, the previous record being four - also held by male Japanese climbers. Yoshiyuki Ogata - the two-time overall Boulder World Cup winner - set the bar high early with a score of 49. This section proved to be a stopper for two more climbers, Taisei Homma (JPN) - a previous Lead World Cup winner - and Satone Yoshida (JPN) who just managed to earn a '+' and moved above Yoshiyuki.

16-year-old Sorato Anraku (JPN), who had dominated each previous round of the competition and topped all three routes so far, was last to climb. Having won the Boulder World Cup in Innsbruck and just missed out on gold in Chamonix to Toby Roberts (GBR), the win seemed to be his to lose. Cool and collected, he quickly reached the sticking point around hold 49 and supassed it easily, before topping out and completing his clean-sweep of each route and each round to win his first Lead gold. Perhaps surprisingly given Japan's medal haul, he also became the first climber from Japan to have won a Boulder World Cup and a Lead World Cup gold.

Silver and gold also went to Japan, with with Taisei and Satone completing the podium. The route did a great job of separating the field otherwise. Teammates Shion Omata and Masahiro Higuchi (JPN) - a World Cup winner in Kranj in 2021 - finished 5th and 6th with 44+ and 40 respectively. Hannes Puman (SWE), who had qualified in 3rd after a spirited climb in the semis where he had power-screamed up the headwall, finished 7th with a score of 39, just ahead of first-time finalist Haruki Uemura (JPN) on 37+.

Women's final

The women's final was wide-open, with all but one of the women never having won a lead World Cup (Eliska Adamovska (CZE) being the exception, having won in Briançon in 2021). The semi-final route had spat-off teammates and favourites-to-win Chaehyun Seo (KOR) and Jain Kim (KOR) with a blind throw to a partially-blocked volume — a point at which eleven women fell overall.

The final route featured some more modern moves than the previous rounds, with a double dyno down low and a feet-first move to a volume. Martina Demmel (GER) and Camille Pouget (FRA) were first-time finalists. Martina set an early highpoint of 34+, falling at the start of the long headwall, completing the two tricky sections with relative ease and finding rests, but tiring before the powerful headwall on pinches. Camille reached the same score and appeared to have suffered from cramp or injured her leg towards the end of her climb and battled for a move or two, but clearly felt that she could have climbed further. 

Vita Lukan (SLO) found a rhythm on the route and barely hestitated or paused to rest. She exceeded the highpoint by 12 holds to fall at 46, just below the top. She seemed happy with her climb, knowing that she had given it her all and that her highpoint would be tough to beat. Manon Hily (FRA) came close to Vita's highpoint at 44+.

Molly Thompson-Smith (GBR) looked comfortable through the lower section, but a wide move on the headwall caused her to pop off as she just missed a hold on a volume and slipped while readjusting. Natsuki Tanii (JPN), one of the favourites for the win, was stopped in her tracks by the low double dyno - a clear weakness in contrast to her excellent endurance.

Nonoha Kume (JPN) , who placed 2nd in her second-ever Lead World Cup in Chamonix last weekend, climbed convincingly up to 43+, but was at risk of being knocked out of provisional bronze by Eliska Adamovska (CZE), who had qualified in 1st for the final after a shaky start to the 2022 season. Eliska looked composed until she reached the powerful headwall, reaching 44+ and matching Manon Hily's score, but surpassing her on countback.

Vita Lukan - who has so often made finals but rarely medalled - finally got a chance to show her winning capabilities. She is the first Slovenian female Lead World Cup winner other than Janja Garnbret since Mina Markovic in 2015. Eliska, who won in Briançon in 2021, appeared just as delighted about Vita's victory as she was to be back on the podium. In another wonderful show of sportsmanship, the finalists comforted a distraught Natsuki Tanii (JPN) after her premature fall. 

Ahead of the Olympic selection event in Bern in two week's time, Briançon was a good testing ground for those wanting to fine-tune their competition performance as the nerves and excitement build. Who will be our first confirmed Paris 2024 Olympic athletes?

Lead Men

Lead Women