Anak Verhoeven stops competing

Anak Verhoeven, one of the best female Lead competition climbers from 2013 - 2018, says on Insta that she will stop competing. The Belgian did win three World Cups and was runner-up seven times, mainly behind Janja Garnbret. In 2017, she did her first 9a and in total, she has done 10 routes 8c+/9a and harder which is second-most in the world.

How do you plan the next year and what are your goals?
I want to try to be a full-time professional climber. My goals for the coming years are to push my limits in sport climbing and discover other types of outdoor climbing as well. This year I want to be able to climb hard again in the fall. And in the meantime, I’ll be expanding my skills on rock and keep training.

Any specific plans or routes you want to try?
I don’t have any specific plans at the moment as far as destinations and routes. I’m on the lookout for projects, but the current travel restrictions definitely make it difficult to go anywhere anytime. I guess I’ll be mostly trying routes in France since that’s not too far away. I’m excited about that!