IFSC commentator Matt Groom reports on all the action from the second Boulder World Cup of the season in Seoul, Korea.

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There is no doubting that South Korea is climbing-mad. People love the sport, they're knowledgable, enthusiastic and as the pre-show Korean rap concert showed….up for a party. The IFSC returned to Asian soil for the first time since 2019 and it felt like a missing piece of the puzzle had been found.

Most of the athletes arrived early to settle in, get over jet lag, and soak in the atmosphere. You approach the Jungnang Sport Stadium through a leafy, peaceful park with light rippling through the trees. As you get nearer, the familiar sounds of competition climbing become clear. Buzzers, power screams and cheering twinned with the more unusual sound of waterfalls.

Inside the stadium is a permanent lead and speed wall and a long specially-built boulder wall, running across the whole width of the facility. At regular intervals the Yongma waterfall cascades down from the cliffs above to land in a pool at one end, helping to cool the air. It feels special. So with the scene set, let's start with bouldering.

The quali day was long, as a lack of holds meant only one group was created for the men and women, instead of the usual two. The women had to deal with hot temperatures and hot brushes during their session. Hot brushes? Apparently the black handles of the brushes sitting in the sun were so hot it was causing the athletes' hands to sweat. Not ideal for climbing, and not something I had heard of before…but it does make perfect sense.

At every event the athletes speak about how challenging the boulders are, and it was no different here. The route setters had a lot of wall real estate to play with and created some long, challenging climbs. 

It was a shame to see athlete See Chaehyun (KOR) fail to make semis as she was very excited about competing in her home country, although her teammate Sol Sa (KOR) had a better round, coming through in 9th. Emily Phillips (GBR) improved on her placing in Meiringen to make the semi-finals, and eventually finished in an impressive 18th place.

The men had cooler temps as afternoon turned to evening. Gregor Vezonik (SLO) was convinced he hadn't made it through, but at the last minute squeaked into semis. Victor Baudrand (CAN) exceeded expectations as he made his first Senior boulder semi-finals. Team Japan were ominously good with Kokoro Fujji, Keita Dohi, Yoshiyuki Ogata, Meichi Narasaki, Tomoaki Takata, Tomoa Narasaki, Yuki Inoue, and Satone Yoshida making it through.

For the semi-finals I was lucky enough to have Sienna Kopf with me in the commentary box. She was brilliantly articulate and analytical. 

Natalia Grossman (USA) is now probably now the favourite for the overall title after Janja Garnbret (SLO) decided to focus on Lead this season, and not compete at bouldering. Natalia lived up to the hype and was dominant with 5 easy tops, beating Camilla Moroni (ITA) to the top spot by attempts to top. Camilla displayed ridiculously strong fingers, holding a barn door on the slab of boulder 3 in a highlight moment. Miho Nonaka (JPN) bounced back from a disappointing Meiringen competition, with no finals, but a great comeback 8th place.

In the men's semi-finals Paul Jenft (FRA) made finals for the second World Cup in a row and at just 18 he's showing consistency at this high level. Max Milne (GBR) once again came tantalisingly close to finals. He spent the early morning meditating before catching the bus to the stadium. I was sitting next to him on the ride in, and was impressed by his calm, focused determination. Nothing seems to be phasing him at the moment, and his 8th place finish shows off his quality.

There were a lot of high and spectacular falls during the semis, which seem to be becoming more common at Boulder events. Perhaps it's the route setters pushing the limits, or maybe the athletes refusing to back down from a sketchy move. I saw lots of face plants, including one athlete plunging head first into a chalk bucket before standing up with a surprised expression and a white-coated face.

Finals time, and there was real excitement in the stadium as the crowds flooded in hours before the climbing was scheduled to take place. 

The climbers were treated like celebrities. I saw a queue forming to get Mejdi Schalk's (FRA) autograph and Oriane Bertone (FRA) was posing for multiple selfies. All the athletes got some degree of attention and it was great to see them interacting with their fans.

We had enjoyed days of beautiful weather but now, as the finalists were announced, the wind started howling as if to compete with the tension in the arena. 

The women were up first and Alannah Yip and I watched a close-run battle play out. Oriane Bertone (FRA) has quickly become a favourite of mine to watch. She has a style that is refreshing, delighting in finding new and interesting sequences. 

She immediately made her mark, flashing the first climb and looking at ease. This set the tone for her competition. Boulder 2 had a Zone hold which seemed to make the climb harder if the athletes used it. Oriane was the first to recognise this, she used it on one attempt to get the score, then ignored it on her successful climb to the top. 

In the past she has seemed overly frustrated when failing on boulders and harmed her own performance, but she seems to have found a new level of control recently. Whether it's coaching or simply a new mindset, her ability to keep focused is helping. She was at her flamboyant best when upside-down on the final climb, which had a feet-first start. She powered her way through the moves, sending it second go. Only Natalia Grossman (USA) could stop her claiming her first senior bouldering Gold…but Natalia was on form. 

Relishing her new status as favourite, she only needed 7 attempts to climb all four boulders, meaning she topped all 9 climbs throughout quail, semis and finals. For me her standout moment was on the final climb, where she needed a top to secure victory. Everyone else had gone feet first, while Natalia started upside-down, but swung her feet down and explosively campused upwards; no feet, pure power, and on the last climb of the weekend. It was outrageous. 

Oriane and Brooke Raboutou (USA) greeted her with hugs as she stepped off the stage, demonstrating the comradeship between the women at the moment. Natalia's first gold of the year, and don't bet against her for more.

Brooke took third, failing to climb the first boulder, which on another day might have been easy for her. She put her head down and didn't really put a foot wrong after that, pushing Stasa Gejo (SRB) out of the top three.

To watch Stasa climb is to witness the fire within her. She's often the underdog, and has a rebellious streak that I think is fantastic to watch. She never hides her feelings, screaming her way up and once literally giving an offending hold - which spat her off - a good talking to. I laughed out loud in the commentary box. I genuinely get emotional watching her climb, because her passion is so evident. She's become a regular in finals and has found something a little extra in recent years.

Vice World Champion Camilla Moroni (ITA) should have relished some of the more powerful boulders that were her style, but was slightly off the mark in 5th. However, she always has the potential to make the podium.

In 6th place was Mia Aoyagi (JPN), a relatively unknown climber. This was the 18 year old's second EVER IFSC comp, and first finals. Although she came 6th on the night, it makes you wonder where team Japan is finding this talent, and shows the depth of the squad.

On the subject of Japanese talent, there were five of their athletes in the men's finals, Paul Jenft (FRA) being the only European climber to make it through to the top six.

As the men began to climb, the rain started falling. Slowly at first, but it turned into a downpour. Soaking the audience, and clearly affecting the athletes with cold. No one had expected rain; another factor for the athletes to contend with.

The first two climbs were fairly straightforward, interesting sure, but nothing particularly special. Boulder 3 ramped up the intensity and we saw athletes climbing it in different ways, breaking the intended beta. 

It was Paul Jenft (FRA) who seemed to open the floodgates, missing two of the holds including the zone as he reached high to the waiting midway jug. It was astounding, and his method seemed so obvious after he had shown the way.

The other athletes, of course, didn't see him do it, but Meichi Narasaki (JPN) and Kokoro Fujii (JPN) read the boulder the same way, all three missing holds on their way to the top. 

Coming into the final climb Yooshiyuki Ogata (JPN), Kokoro Fujii (JPN) and Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) had almost identical scores. The rain got harder. It started seeping through the joins in the wall, delaying things as judges and volunteers frantically mopped up drips. 

The route setters clearly thought the athletes were feeling strong, as they saved the most physical boulder for last. Most only had two good attempts on it, before the power drained out of them. Kokoro Fujii (JPN) however, had power to spare. Time and again he threw himself upwards, when most would have stopped, he forced himself on and unlocked a bicycle sequence at the top. With two seconds on the clock he matched the final hold, putting him in first position as the crowd lost their minds.

Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) was out last. He needed to top it in two attempts or fewer to beat Kokoro to gold. We watched and held our breath as he fell low, and reassessed. One chance left….but it was not to be and he fell on the top sequence. However, he unlocked the beta on his 4th try and took the silver medal. 

Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN) got bronze, Paul Jenft (FRA) 4th, Meichi Narasaki (JPN) 5th and Keita Dohi 6th.

South Korea also hosted the first Speed World Cup of the year. I was grateful to be joined by Speed specialist John Brosler (USA) for co-commentary.

It's always blink-and-you'll-miss-it stuff, and incredibly two world records were set during the qualifications. Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) destroyed her own record with a 6.64 and Veddriq Leonardo set a new time of 5.17. It's hard to imagine those being broken anytime soon.

In the finals the race for men's gold was between Kiromal Katibin (INA) and Veddriq Leonardo (INA). Sadly we didn't get to see what would have been a great race, as Kiromal false-started after a timing issue on their first go caused a re-start. Veddriq took the win and Rahmad Mulyono (INA) beat Ludovico Fossali (ITA) for bronze.

For the women's podium, Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) beat Emma Hunt (USA) to the top claiming gold, and Emma silver, while Aleksandra Kalucka (POL) found another gear in the middle section to take Bronze over Franziska Ritter (GER).

Written on posters for the event were the words 'A new home for climbing'; a fitting slogan for a competition that seemed quite settled in this new stadium. Thank you to our South Korean hosts and we look forward to seeing you soon.

A word on the Europsport broadcast. Once again they did not use our commentary from the stadium — in fact, there was no English commentary at all during the men's finals. This is obviously hugely frustrating, especially as everything was set up properly this time around. I've been assured that it will be an IFSC commentator's voice for the next competition in Salt Lake City.

I'll be watching instead of commentating for that double-header but I'll be back in the box for Brixen and the rest of the season.

Men's & Women's Boulder Semi-finals

Women's & Men's Boulder Finals