23 December 2022
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.
Chaehyun 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 Flohรฉ - 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.
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.
Chaehyun 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 Flohรฉ - 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.
5 comments
Sort by:
Date
Reply
Most commented
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ
23 March 2026
Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia
Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessioโฆ
Related
23 March 2022
Two 8Cs by Aidan Roberts and Yannick Flohรฉ
Aidan Roberts has done the FA of Everything the Light Touches (8C) and the second ascent of Kim Marschner's Forgotten Gem (8C) in Ticino. Yannick Flohรฉ has repeโฆ
Natalia Grossman from the USA was the female topping all four boulders in the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City. This was the third consecutive gold for the 2โฆ
10 June 2022
Flohรฉ and McArthur win the qualification
Yannick Flohรฉ topped out all five boulders in eight attempts and won his group ahead of Kokoro Fujii who needed four attempts more. The other group had harder bโฆ
Related news
23 March 2022
Two 8Cs by Aidan Roberts and Yannick Flohรฉ
Aidan Roberts has done the FA of Everything the Light Touches (8C) and the second ascent of Kim Marschner's Forgotten Gem (8C) in Ticino. Yannick Flohรฉ has repeโฆ
Natalia Grossman from the USA was the female topping all four boulders in the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City. This was the third consecutive gold for the 2โฆ
10 June 2022
Flohรฉ and McArthur win the qualification
Yannick Flohรฉ topped out all five boulders in eight attempts and won his group ahead of Kokoro Fujii who needed four attempts more. The other group had harder bโฆ
Favorites
8 June 2026
Janja Garnbret does Bibliographie (9b+)
Janja Garnbret has added another milestone to her remarkable climbing career by becoming the first woman to climb Bibliographie (9b+) in Cรฉรผse, one of the hardeโฆ
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
16 March 2026
Ondra flashes 3*8C in two weeks
โI stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโs World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders.
Outdoor bouldering isโฆ