All the male and female medalists in the European Boulder Championship in Villars got the same number of tops and zones in the final, meaning attempts to tops and zones were needed to rank them. Ultimately, Nailé Meignan and Sam Avezou from France, who also both won the semifinal, got the golds.

1. Nailé Meignan FRA 34 (7) - Sam Avezou FRA 24 (2/7)
2. Ayala Kerem ISR 34 (9) - Maximillian Milne GBR 24 (2/14)
3. Agathe Calliet 34 (12) - Dayan Dakhtar GBR 24 (7)
Complete results

Laura Rogora from Italy won the Lead event by topping the final route but was timed so she had to settle scoring six moves higher than Ievgeniia Kazbekova. Among the males, Sasha Lehmann pleased the home crowd getting two moves higher than Sam Avezou.

1. Sasha Lehmann SUI 45+ : Laura Rogora ITA 45
2. Sam Avezou FRA 43+ : Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 39+
3. Guillermo Peinado ESP 39+ : Lynn van Der Meer 38+
Complete results

Noah Wheeler has completed Drew Ruana’s Insomniac (8C+) at Lincoln Lake. It starts doing eight moves of The wheel of wolvo (8B+) followed by a good rest and then continuous through We Can Build You (8B). (c) e.lusive

”My hardest yet given the style. Miraculously figured out the heel only recently which unlocked the possibility of trying the low. 6 or so sessions this year mostly around this month, but the stand took a few sessions last year. Felt a progressive sense of familiarity with the climb up until weather got bad, wherein doubt set in up until a lucky good day of weather the weekend before the road closes for 2 years. Made it out the cave!”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I did Wheel of Wolvo and Delirium back in the summer of 2022, with them feeling fairly comfortable, and came back in 2023 with the intention of sending Insomniac. I soon realized this goal was more hefty than I had anticipated because the heel move on the stand, We Can Build You, was particularly anti style (I think is has to do with an over-reliance on putting my weight in my upper-body). I barely gave start goes on Insomniac that year.

This year I came back and after a few mental shifts and analysis I discovered the move for myself, sending maybe a month after this awareness. Despite feeling the natural progression necessary for a climb this grade throughout the month, I was self-doubting myself the entire topout as I was incredibly numb and fairly pumped. Before making every next move after a certain point I was like “I’m falling now” but I kept moving in complete separation between my mind and body until the top.

Adam Ondra has done L'oppio dei climbers (8B+) and Flow State (8C) in Val daone. ”8C+ if you are short for sure! Amazing FA by Pietro Vidi.

The next day he flashed Felberqueen (8B) in Felbertal and over just three he sent ten boulders 8A and beyond. In total, the 31-year-old has logged close to 2 400 routes and boulders on Vertical-Life.

Sera Gearhart, with over 40 boulders 8A and beyond under her belt, has completed European Human Being (8A+) located at 3100 m elevation in RMNP (CO).

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I think I gave myself altitude sickness and I haven’t been able to stomach eating much so I felt super shaky and nauseous yesterday. Very happy that I was able to put it together even feeling so awful! I opted for the double clutch method since it was a bit warm to control the last move. It was cool because that’s not how I usually climb. Beta inspired by Alex Johnson!

Ryusei Hamada from Japan and Meini Li from China won all three rounds, securing Japan's 14th medal and China's 16th in the Youth World Championship. Notably, all six boys in the final were from Asia, and only six from Europe, out of which three from Israel, made it to the semifinal, although there are a maximum of three per nation.

Li, who was fourth in Lead, says; ”I am so excited as it’s my first time at a World Championships and the feeling is incredible. After Lead I feel climbed semi-finals so bad, and I had to change my emotions to get better in the Boulder.

The feeling of being at home made me more relaxed and enjoy the competition, and the crowd was incredible all the way through.”

Hamada, who got the silver in Lead, comments; “I’m so happy for the gold, but I didn’t climb well on the first route, and I was disappointed not to make tops on all the boulders. My goal was four tops for the final, but maybe that will have to be for next year now.” Complete results © Richard Aspland/IFSC

United (8C+) is a sit start to Decided (8B+) and was establihed by Ryuichi Murai. Shawn Raboutou did the second ascent.

Maya Klaunzer, with two 8A's under her belt, has sent Libre Original (8B) in Felbertal. (c) Martin Šálek

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I was able to climb the boulder on Tuesday and was super happy because I only needed 4 sessions to climb it. So that was my project for the summer. I climbed Libre soft (7C+) 2 years ago and thought I could never climb the Libre original. I think (according to local climbers and Verticle-Life Climbing) that the boulder has no female ascent yet.

What is your climbing background?
I started climbing when I was 3 and started doing climb comps when I was 12-13 years old. But in my hometown Osttirol I always climbed outdoors and really like to go climb outside. I am in the Austrian national team and that was the first 8B Boulder I ever tried and now already could send… :)

What is your best competition result?
The IFSC European Boulder Cup in Liébana, with a 7th place in the women category last year :)

Sebastien Bouin reports on Instagram that he has repeated Dylan Chuat's X integral (9a+) in Ravoire. In total, he has done twelve 9b’s, out of which seven are FA’s. Additionally, Seb has a further five 9b+ ascents to his name, as well as the FA of the world's second 9c route, DNA.

"These times were a bit tricky to organize because I wanted to train for a hard project. So basically, climbing days at the crag were my rest days 😅, and I was training hard on the other days. Somehow, since the route isn’t too steep, it worked out."

How many climbing days in a row did you have before the send?
I had quite a lot, around 20 days with only one rest day But training in the gym during the rest day was good for the small project.

Ritsu Kayotani, Boulder Youth World Champion in 2022 and 2023, got his third straight gold by winning the U20 category in Guiyang. "I’m happy, especially after completing all of the boulders. I knew if I could get the last boulder I would have the win, so I was just focused and thinking about climbing. As soon as I reached the top, I was just happy to win and get the gold for the third year in a row."

Among the girls, Lily Abrait, who got the bronze last year, won by being the only one topping three boulders in the final. "I still don’t really believe it; it feels so special. It was just amazing to climb with those strong girls and I had fun throughout the whole competition. It’s my first time here in China and I’m not disappointed at all. I was third last year and my goal of this year was to get the gold, so I am glad I did it." Complete results