8a's Competition Climbers of 2022

Here are 8a's top Competition Climbers of 2022, based on results in international Lead and Boulder competitions. This year, many of the most high profile comp climbers focused on one discipline, or did only a few selected events which kept them from making the cut. If you want to see who has been the best in Lead as well as in Boulder, have a look here overall World Cup results. (c) Daniel Gajda/IFSC

Female
Natalia Grossman -USA
Completely dominated Boulder, winning five events and being runner-up in the sixth. In Lead, she was #3 overall, and in the only Boulder & Lead WC the 21-year-old was #2.

Janja Garnbret - SLO
In Lead, she was in a league of her own, winning five WCs and in the remaining two she was runner-up. The 23-year-old also won both Lead and Boulder in the Euro Championships as well as the only Boulder WC she did.

Chaehyeon Seo - KOR
Runner-up overall in Lead and #10 overall in Boulder. In the Asia Championship, the 19-year-old won in Lead and took the bronze in Boulder. In the first ever Boulder & Lead WC she was #3.

Elnaz Rekabi IRA
She was #4 in the Asia Boulder & Lead Championship. In the final, she climbed without her hijab, ostensibly in solidarity with protests in Iran, which began in September following the death of Masha Amini in the hands of the country's morality police. Her action made global headlines, and she received a heroine's welcome upon returning to Tehran; but currently her safety and whereabouts, let alone her ability to compete again, are unclear. This was the only competition the bronze medalist in the 2021 Combined World Championships competed in, in 2022.

Male
Yoshiyuki Ogata - JPN
Winning the Overall Boulder World Cup comfortably after making the podium five times out of six. In Lead, the 24-year-old was #9 overall. In the World Games, he was #3 and in the Asia Championship, he earned three silvers.

Yannick Flohé - GER
The German was #4 overall in Boulder and #5 in Lead.

Colin Duffy - USA
The American was #8 overall in Lead and #6 in Boulder after having one event in each discipline.