The latest round of the 2018 IFSC Lead World Cup took place in Kranj, Slovenia. Although this venue is traditionally host to the season finale in November, this year there remain two rounds in China - Wujiang and Xiamen - at the end of October.

Team GB achieved one of their best ever all-round results, with three climbers reaching the semi-finals. William Bosi narrowly missed out on finals in 9th place, while Jim Pope and Molly Thompson-Smith both placed 16th.

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In the men's final, 3 Italian and 3 Japanese athletes battled for a podium finish alongside 2018 Lead World Champion Jakob Schubert (AUT) and Sean McColl (CAN). Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA) pipped Jakob into 2nd place with a top of the final route, and Masahiro Higuchi (JPN) earned his first ever IFSC Lead World Cup medal in 3rd place. This was the 2nd victory for Ghisolfi this year, who has improved his ranking to 29 points behind Schubert in the Lead season rankings with only two events remaining.

Janja Garnbret (SLO) appeared fatigued throughout the competition in front of a home crowd, qualifying for semis in 4th place and for the finals in 3rd place - atypical results in a season that has largely been dominated by Garnbret. Seasoned multi-time IFSC World Cup Champion Jain Kim was the star of the competition, topping the scoreboard in each round and returning to the top of the podum for the 28th time. Janja Garnbret placed 2nd and Hannah Schubert (AUT) - younger sibling of Jakob Schubert - achieved her first IFSC Lead World Cup medal in 3rd place.