Sorato Anraku, 16, wins his first WC and secures overall title

Sorato Anraku began the final with a flash and put pressure on all five following finalists. Being the only climber to top out the second boulder, which no one else made the zone on, the 16-year-old carved out a big lead. Mathematically, it was clear that he would win the overall if he was to place second or better, but as he did not even make the zone on the third boulder, the competition opened up once more.

On the final boulder, he struggled with the intro dyno but on his seventh try, he stuck it and cruised to the top, which secured him a podium position.

When later Sam Avezou did not make the dyno, Sorato secured the overall title. Then Meichi Narasaki, in fifth position, had just two attempts to send it in order to win but as he needed seven tries he was runner-up. Complete results

Sorato said in the IFSC interview; “When my climbing had finished after the final boulder I still wasn’t sure if I would win. Maybe a 50-50 chance, but I had done all I could and I couldn’t worry about the others and what they were going to do.” (c) Jan Virt/IFSC

Hannes Puman, #25 in Innsbruck, told 8a the great story of when he ran into the 16-year-old in a Tokyo gym this spring. They started to boulder and it did not take long until Puman realised he was on another level, especially on holding dyno swings.

Talking to Sorato in Brixen he says he mainly trains alone or with some locals from Chiba, 1.5 hours from Tokyo. Most of his training consists of bouldering or doing circuits and sometimes also some hangboarding. He does not follow any strict training plan. A couple times a month he travels to Tokyo to train with guys from the national team.