UKC

IFSC Boulder World Cup Brixen - Report

© Björn Pohl

The IFSC returned to Europe after a double-header in Salt Lake City and it was Brixen in Northern Italy that hosted the fifth round of the Boulder World Cup, a picturesque South-Tyrolean mountain town in the Dolomites with a very strong climbing scene. 

GB Climbing's Max Milne displayed skill and composure in Brixen, climbing his way to silver.  © Björn Pohl
GB Climbing's Max Milne displayed skill and composure in Brixen, climbing his way to silver.
© Björn Pohl

The event organisers had done a fantastic job, especially considering the short notice they had after the Moscow round was cancelled. The Vertikale gym hosted us and the huge 35m-long, permanent competition wall was the focus of everyone's attention.

There were a few big names absent for various reasons. Brooke Raboutou (USA) skipped the event to train for the upcoming Lead season as did Mejdi Schalck (FRA). Oriane Bertone (FRA) had a niggling finger injury and Manu Cornu (FRA) was resting a bicep tweak.

We are trying to improve the qualification highlight video we make during the qualification day and as I was watching the climbing I noticed an athlete called Zhilu Luo was making quick work of the boulders. A ripple of surprises ran around the stadium, as people began to take notice, and inevitably Googling her name. There wasn't much to find; in fact, this was her first IFSC event, and she cruised into semis in 4th place. That just doesn't happen very often.

Qualis ran all day and the sun was merciless on the audience, although the athletes were protected by the roof of the building. In warm weather, the side of the building slides across to allow open-air climbing.

The women's boulders were simple to read, but powerful, making full use of the wall's overhangs. Natalia Grossman (USA) had a perfect start, flashing all the boulders and Fanny Gibert (FRA) was right behind her, taking only one more attempt on her group's boulders. 

Hannah Meul (GER) was back from a break and came through in 3rd, and Holly Toothill (GBR) made another semi-finals with a 14th place finish. 

The men's qualifying was impressively led by Yannick Flohé (GER) - with five tops - and Hamish McArthur (GBR), who topped their respective groups. Jakob Schubert (AUS) looked determined and powered through in 5th. Alex Khazanov (ISR) was nursing a hamstring tendon injury and his decision to compete didn't pay off as he was left in 27th, but it was a brave effort. 

photo
Yannick Flohé (GER) dominated each round.
© Lena Drapella/IFSC

The women's semis was a high-scoring round and again Natalia Grossman came out on top, flashing the full set and maintaining a 'no fall' record. Boulder 1 became a must-send problem and was flashed by many. However, Chaehyun Seo (KOR) and a few others didn't climb it, and paid the price on the rest of the tricky boulders.

Zhilu Luo (CHN) impressed again and got through to the finals, as did Serika Okawachi (JPN) who's been out of the competition circuit for a while. 

Everyone was talking about Boulder 3 in the men's comp qualifiers as climber after climber was shut down. Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) and Jongwon Chon (KOR) were the only ones to reach the Zone. We were beginning to think it was impossible, until Yannick Flohé (GER) turned up, and in a ridiculous show of strength, sent it fourth try. He moved into finals in 1st place.

Hamish McArthur (GBR) started strongly but slowed after the first boulder and was knocked out in 15th, but his teammate Max Milne (GBR) fulfilled the hype surrounding him and made finals in 4th.

The women and men's comps were split across Saturday and Sunday, a format that - personally - I prefer. It is really difficult to film eight climbers on the wall at a time during semi-finals and moments are inevitably missed. Splitting the sessions means we can focus more on the 20 athletes competing and it splits up what is usually a four-hour-plus broadcast.

Saturday was the women's finals and it was a nail-biting climax. Team Japan had three athletes in the final six, and everyone was watching Zhilu Luo (CHN) and wondering what she could do. Four out of the five athletes were climbing in their first ever finals.

Serika Okawachi (JPN) came 6th, being beaten by Anon Matsufuji (JPN) who got one top more than her teammate. 

Natalia Grossman (USA) kept a cool head to win gold in a tense competition.  © Lena Drapella/IFSC
Natalia Grossman (USA) kept a cool head to win gold in a tense competition.
© Lena Drapella/IFSC

Natalia Grossman continued her streak of flashing all of the boulders by flashing the smeary Boulder 1, which was also flashed by Hannah Meul (GER) and Miho Nonaka (JPN). The lead kept swapping between Natalia and Hannah with Hannah pulling ahead until Boulder 3, where Natalia powered through to flash the boulder and moved into the lead.

As those two women fought it out, Zhilu Luo (CHN) was pushing Miho Nonaka (JPN) for 3rd place. Younger climbers seem to think a bit differently, and Zhilu demonstrated this by finding some interesting heel/toe cam beta on the bottom of Boulder 3. 

Zhilu Luo: a 16-year-old up-and-coming talent from China.  © Lena Drapella/IFSC
Zhilu Luo: a 16-year-old up-and-coming talent from China.
© Lena Drapella/IFSC

Everything came down to the final climb, with all the podium places in contention. Miho Nonaka (JPN) struggled to find the sequence through the dyno and slopers of the boulder. She came closer and closer, finally getting the top…but just seconds outside of the time limit. Zhilu Luo (CHN) matched the final hold in just three tries. An incredible bronze medal for her: first event, first finals…first medal.

A young star on the rise. Sometimes we have someone appear in the competition climbing world who has the potential to be the next dominant force. Early promise is sometimes an indication that that athlete is something special. This weekend,16-year-old and unknown climber Zhilu was introduced to the world…and she might just change the game.

The pressure was on Hannah Meul (GER) and she handled it brilliantly, cheered on by a very vocal team Germany as she made the top in two attempts. Natalia Grossman (USA) entered the stage with the customary smile on her face needing a quick send. Tension mounted as she fell on her flash try…but a true champion pushes all the noise away and Natalia didn't falter as she climbed it second go, receiving her fourth gold medal in a row.

Hannah Meul's (GER) silver medal is a reflection of a lot of work going on behind the scenes and it throws another podium contender into the mix for the next event in Innsbruck.

photo
Women's podium in Brixen: Meul, Grossman and Luo.
© Lena Drapella/IFSC

The men's finals on Sunday was a much warmer day, with little wind to move the humid air away from the wall. Team Japan once again dominated the line-up, with three of their athletes in the top six.

Meichi Narasaki (JPN) came 6th with a quick top of Boulder 1 and Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN) couldn't find the form that earned him gold in Salt Lake and came 5th.

Dohyun Lee (KOR) is such a fun climber to watch with a unique style. He was the first to show us the 'human-flag' solution to Boulder 3, 4th place for him. 

When co-commentator Danaan Markey and I had a sneak peak of the final boulders, we said the word 'Wow' a lot. It was a brutal set, and the final boulder, with its explosive moves and hidden crimps was the energy-sapping finale to the event.

Max Milne (GBR) seemed to have found the next gear in his career. He made his first finals in 2021 and since then we've been waiting for his return to the final six. I last saw him in South Korea and noticed the quiet grit in his personality this year. He made good on all the expectations and claimed silver, fighting hard with Yannik Flohé (GER) to the very end. After the first and second boulders, he was leading and seemed on course for the win, only to be overtaken by Yannick on the burly B3 and B4. On another day, it might have been gold. 

On Instagram, Max commented: 'Beginning to the very end I was there to win! I came out fast and did my best to execute on every boulder. It wasn't quite the fairytale ending for me this time but some magical moments did happen and I made my FIRST EVER WORLD CUP PODIUM!!! I'll take that silver medal to match my hair I guess.'

Yannick however…well. Yannick simply demolished the rest. He turned up the power on Boulder 3 (considered by the route setters to be the hardest) and got it on his third go. He had won the competition before the last boulder and his last four minutes on the mats became a victory lap. He got the zone and looked to the crowd for confirmation of the win. The smile that spread across his face showed his feelings as he received his first gold medal.

photo
Men's podium: Milne, Flohé, Narasaki.
© Lena Drapella/IFSC

Brixen is a competition I'll remember for a while and I hope we return there in the future. It was good to see Eurosport using the commentary team that were in Brixen for the broadcasts, and thanks to Danaan Markey and Quinn Midori (USA) for joining me in the commentary box. We have some exciting new things planned for the IFSC Youtube channel, so keep an eye out for that…

The Lead season opener in Innsbruck is coming soon and there are rumours that Olympic Champion Janja Garnbret (SLO) might make a return to the Boulder event…

Watch the Olympic Channel replay of the women's finals and the men's finals (coming soon).

Boulder Men

RankNameNationSemi-finalFinal
1 Yannick Flohé GER3T4z 8 102T4z 5 9
2 Maximillian Milne GBR2T3z 2 32T3z 6 9
3 Tomoa Narasaki JPN2T4z 6 71T4z 4 9
4 Dohyun Lee KOR2T3z 5 51T4z 4 22
5 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN2T3z 3 41T4z 7 13
6 Meichi Narasaki JPN3T3z 10 51T3z 2 8
7 Jan-Luca Posch AUT2T3z 7 5
8 Jakob Schubert AUT2T3z 7 7
9 Kokoro Fujii JPN2T3z 10 10
10 Alex Megos GER2T3z 11 9
11 Jongwon Chon KOR1T4z 4 12
12 Mickael Mawem FRA1T3z 1 6
13 Simon Lorenzi BEL1T3z 2 5
14 Rei Kawamata JPN1T3z 2 10
15 Hamish McArthur GBR1T3z 2 11
16 Yuji Fujiwaki JPN1T3z 6 9
17 Max Kleesattel GER0T3z 0 7
18 Nimrod Marcus ISR0T3z 0 8
19 Philipp Martin GER0T3z 0 9
20 Mathieu Ternant FRA0T3z 0 14
25 Nathan Phillips GBRQual: 1T5z 1 8
27 Alex Waterhouse GBRQual: 3T5z 8 11
53 Billy Ridal GBRQual: 0T3z 0 4

Boulder Women

RankNameNationSemi-finalFinal
1 Natalia Grossman USA4T4z 4 44T4z 6 5
2 Hannah Meul GER3T4z 4 44T4z 6 6
3 ZHILU LUO CHN3T4z 6 62T4z 5 9
4 Miho Nonaka JPN4T4z 5 51T4z 1 4
5 Anon MATSUFUJI JPN3T4z 6 91T3z 4 6
6 serika Okawachi JPN3T4z 6 60T3z 0 8
7 Jessica Pilz AUT3T4z 7 7
8 Futaba Ito JPN3T4z 8 8
9 Fanny Gibert FRA3T3z 8 7
10 Staša Gejo SRB2T4z 2 7
11 Vita Lukan SLO2T4z 3 7
12 Ayala Kerem ISR2T4z 4 5
13 Franziska Sterrer AUT2T3z 3 3
14 Chaehyun Seo KOR2T3z 3 5
15 Petra Klingler SUI2T3z 4 5
16 Camilla Moroni ITA2T2z 4 2
17 Julija Kruder SLO1T3z 1 11
18 Oceana Mackenzie AUS1T3z 2 6
19 Cloe Coscoy USA1T3z 2 8
20 Holly Toothill GBR1T3z 4 11
33 Hannah Slaney GBRQual: 2T5z 4 6
49 Tara Hayes GBRQual: 0T4z 0 4
53 Jennifer Wood GBRQual: 1T5z 4 14


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