The penultimate round of the IFSC Boulder World Cup took place in Prague, Czechia last weekend. Dohyun Lee of South Korea and Natalia Grossman of the USA won gold in two suspenseful finals. Great Britain's Olympic Champion Toby Roberts won bronze after a gutsy fight in the men's event.

Paris 2024 silver medallist Sorato Anraku (JPN) and Sam Avezou (FRA) led their respective qualification groups, with Toby Roberts (GBR) finishing just behind Anraku. Max Milne (GBR) qualified for the semi-final in 5th place in his group. Dayan Akhtar (GBR) finished 47th. 

The men's semi-final featured a lot of Tops, with Anraku and compatriot Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) both completing four boulders to qualify in 1st and 2nd place for finals. Dohyun Lee (KOR) was 3rd, just ahead of Toby Roberts. Max Milne performed well with a second-go Top of M2 and a flash of M3 plus all four Zones to finish 8th - just outside of finals. French favourites for the final Mejdi Schalck and Sam Avezou - who was recently crowned European Champion in Boulder and Combined - fell short in 10th and 11th respectively.

A topsy-turvy final with more old-school style climbs left everyone guessing until the last climber ran the clock down on the last boulder. Dohyun Lee achieved the first flash of M1, a volume-ridden boulder with a blind sideways jump before a dynamic press. Sorato Anraku continued his dominant run of form with another flash. Manu Cornu (FRA) topped in two attempts, while Narasaki and Narasaki required four and five attempts. Home crowd favourite Adam Ondra (CZE) was the only climber to fail to reach the Top. 

M2 was a basic dyno to two pinch volumes before a rockover to a crimpy finish. The final move proved too tricky for the athletes, with no Tops but many heart-breaking misses of the last hold. Roberts was the only athlete to walk away without a Zone. Anraku maintained his lead after achieving the only flash to the Zone. 

The slab boulder, M3, was the scene of many bruised and bloody shins. It involved a dynamic stand-up onto a slippy blob before a delicate rightwards traverse. Once again, the boulder proved elusive, with no Tops and just three athletes clinching the Zone: Lee reached it his thirteenth attempt with eight seconds left on the clock, showing impressive determination. Narasaki achieved the Zone in three attempts, while Anraku required six attempts. 

Ahead of M4, Anraku led the field, but there was all to play for given the fact that five of the six climbers had just one Top to their name. M4 involved a physical press into a sequence of slopers. Ondra flashed the problem to rapturous applause and after a difficult round, seemed elated to finish it on a high. Cornu followed in three attempts to take provisional first place, while Roberts matched Ondra's flash, bumping him up into provisional second. With Lee, Narasaki and Anraku still to go, Roberts' medal was hanging in the balance. Lee managed a second-go Top, moving him into provisional first. In an unexpected twist, Narasaki failed to Top, guaranteeing Lee a silver and Cornu a bronze medal at least, while Roberts was still in contention for a medal.

Anraku, the final climber out, could take any medal or walk away empty-handed. He had to Top in two attempts and reach the Zone in 11 attempts to beat Lee. Mirroring his teammate's struggle, Anraku battled with the press and failed to progress through the slopers, before collapsing to the mats, head in hands in disappointment. He remained in 4th place, with Lee, Cornu and Roberts completing the podium. Lee won in Prague for the second year in a row, while Cornu reached his first podium since 2019. 

Lee told the IFSC: "I love Prague! I can't believe I won again here, how can I explain my feelings? I'm just very happy! There were some tricky moves in the final, some boulders were complicated for me, but I did my best and it paid off."

Roberts, who finished the round with two bandages on his shins, said: "I am so psyched! It was a strange final, I never thought I could be on the podium, but I did not give up, I was able to put it together and find the top on the final boulder. I can't quite believe I'm on the podium, but I am really happy!" 

Ahead of the final Boulder round in Seoul, Korea next month, Anraku leads the way on 3105 points, followed by Roberts and Meichi Narasaki (JPN) who are equal on 2365 points.

The women's competition was similarly exciting. Olympic Champion Janja Garnbret and other contenders such as Oriane Bertone and Brooke Raboutou were absent.

In qualification, GB Climbing's Erin McNeice led her group with five Tops, joined by Natalia Grossman (USA) leading the other half of the field. The semi-final was a hard round, with one Top and three Zones being sufficient to qualify for finals. Grossman appeared unconfident early in the round, but a crucial Top of the W4 slab - a boulder on which 19 other climbers failed to reach the Zone - took her to the top of the leaderboard on three Tops and four Zones. Oceana MacKenzie (AUS) and Naïlé Meignan (FRA) - the new European Boulder Champion - were just behind on two Tops and three Zones. Erin McNeice was momentarily in a position to qualify for finals, but an appeal on her W3 Zone was upheld and she dropped into 10th place and out of the top-six cut. 

The women's final mirrored the men's, with a varied and exciting range of boulders resulting in different athletes succeeding and failing on each one. W1 was a dynamic run-and-jump slab with a delicate finish. Anon Matsufuji (JPN) was the first to succeed in seven attempts. MacKenzie managed it in six, Meignan in two and Grossman in nine attempts.

W2 was a powerful dynamic compression boulder which only Meignan topped, giving her a significant lead when added to her quick top of W1. 

A third more technical boulder involving laybacking on volumes shifted the ranks once again. Meignan failed to Top, closing the gap between her and the other athletes, while Zélia Avezou (FRA) and Grossman flashed the climb. MacKenzie and Matsufuji kept in touch with two tops in two and three attempts respectively. 

W4 was a spectacular swing into a palm-down shoulder press between ball volumes with a hard finishing move to a crimpy hold. Acheiving the Zone alone was difficult. Mao Nakamura was the first to reach it in three attempts. Meignan secured it in two goes, but couldn't find a third Top. MacKenzie impressed with a flash of the shoulder press, but still failed to finish. She had nonetheless guaranteed herself a bronze medal at a minimum, marking a personal, national and continental record for the Australian.

Grossman climbed last and needed to top in unlimited attempts in order to surpass Meignan. She struggled with the pendulum swing, looking tired from the previous rounds and final boulders. She sttempted a heel-hook method which seemed unlikely, but eventually - on her seventh attempt - she latched the jug on the press move before carefully resetting for the jump to the crimp. She launched and landed the powerful barn-door, securing a hard-fought victory ahead of Meignan and MacKenzie.

Speaking of her climb on W4 Grossman said: "I kind of started to lose belief on the first move [of the last boulder], my arms were so tired. I knew what the intended beta was, but I was way too tired, so I found my own way. I knew that once I got the zone, I love crimps and I was like 'I want that crimp, I want that finish hold!'"
 
On her 11th Boulder gold - coming off the back of a disappointing Olympic Games - Grossman added: "This win means so much to me, more than any win I've had recently. It signifies that if I believe in myself, I can do it. [Prague] is one of the best World Cups I've been to, one of the best crowds. It was awesome, thank you!"

In the overall rankings, Janja Garnbret and Natalia Grossman are currently tied for 1st place on 2000 points - each having competed in just two World Cups this season, but winning both. Yet with Garnbret's absence in Seoul, she will be out of contention for the title.

If Grossman wins her fourth consecutive overall Boulder title, she will match the tally of four-time winners Anna Stöhr (AUT) and Akiyo Noguchi (JPN). Only Sandrine Levet (FRA) has won more wins, with five Boulder titles to her name. Mackenzie is currently in third on 1950 points, with Nakamura (1912 points) and Meignan (1875 points) also in close contention for a podium place. 

The ninth and final World Cup event of the season will take place in Seoul from 2 to 6 October.

Boulder Men

Boulder Women