Janja Garnbret (SLO) was superior in the women’s boulder qualification doing all five problems in just nine tries. Brooke Raboutou (USA) won the second group getting three tops and five zones. Runner-ups in the two groups were Ayala Kerem (ISR) and Zelia Avezou (FRA). (c) Jan Virt/IFSC

Contrary to the first three days of the World Championships in Bern, we saw several sensational results. Miho Nonaka #24, Stasa Gejo #27, Hannah Meul #35 and Chaehyun Seo #55 did all miss the semi and especially Seo needs a very good result in Lead to make it to the Combined semi.

Gabriel Kern, who last month won the Swedish Lead Championship, has done Inshallah (8c+) in Kalymnos, Insta video.

”Inshallah, in my opinion the absolute king line! Featuring a middle-finger-undercling-mono-lockoff, sketchy heel-hooks, mega cut-loosing, and a brutal ending! The route is around 15 meters of pure hard bouldering with no rests. As of now it has five ascents on 8a.nu but, the more accurate number is probably around 10-15.

If anyone is visiting Kalymnos I would highly recommend going to north cape and trying it! There are some draws on it already that you can use if you just want to feel the holds!

My first few tries on the route was in November 2022 but that was cut short since there came a swarm of hornets making the route unclimbable. I came back in Easter 2023 hungry, made progress, but still got shut down. Fast forward to summer 2023, everything was greasy and humid, but that didn't stop my projecting, I perfected every sequence and after a falling on the last hold a few tries in a row I managed to send it. It was either send it or take down the draws.”

Marco Müller, who previously has done eight 9a's, has sent Oblivion (9a) in Gimmelwald.

"The route is a linkup between 'Alpenbitter' and 'Renardo Rules', which creates a traverse with a new crux. I think it took me 2 sessions to do all the moves. The crux is going from a tricky heelhook to a bad 2-finger pocket to another pocket. It is super body tension and body position dependent. (I also couldn't do the original kneebar beta, as my torso is a tiny bit too short.) I then started trying from the ground and could almost always reach the traverse. But the key was to get there fresh in order to get into the right body positions. After multiple sessions, I finally stuck the last crux move and kept it together to the end."

125 men participated in the male Lead qualification and Jakob Schubert (AUT) won group A by getting the highest on both routes. Sam Avezou (FRA) and Sorato Anraku, 16, (JPN) were tied winners in group B. Sean McColl got his best result of the season by being #13, in his 9th World Championships appearance. No other sensational results meaning all big names made it to the semifinal. Interesting is that Japan did not let their #4, 5, 7 and 11 in the overall World Cup participate. Instead, they have probably focused on their athletes having the best chances in the Combined. (c) Lena Drapella/IFSC
Complete results

Sorato Anraku (JPN) started out last in the semi, as he had won the qualification, and sent all four boulders in great style. The 16-year-old seems to be on another level as he has done throughout the whole season. By doing so he kicked out his teammate Yoshiyuki Ogata from the final, who had just sent Adam Ondra (CZE) out of the final. Both of them including also Yannick Flohé (GER), in 9th position, were all very close to sending one more boulder creating a very exciting semifinal.

Olympian Mickael Mawem (FRA), who has not made any finals in the WC in 2023, was runner-up. “They weren’t hard boulders, not hard, not physical, not small holds. You just need to climb well and have good timing and that’s what I think I have, so that’s cool, that’s good.

My goal is qualification for the Olympics and now I am in final so that is good. First step was qualification, second was semi-finals and the third step is a medal.

I’m happy because I think I’m strong mentally for the finish, the hands, for the last move on the slab. I climb a lot on the slab and doing a lot of coordination the last month and I’m happy now, not just because of the result but the way I am climbing.”

Kokoro Fujii (JPN) was third followed by Mejdi Schalck (FRA), Lee Dohyun (KOR) and Nicolai Uznik (AUT). It should be mentioned that Shauna Coxsey did her debut as a commentator and did a very nice job explaining interesting details. Complete results

There were 100 women competing in the Bern Lead qualification today. Janja Garnbret (SLO) won one group by topping both routes in full control. Number one in the other group was Ai Mori (JPN). Three climbers were tied in third; Brooke Raboutou (USA), Laura Rogora (ITA) and Seo Chaehyun (KOR). In total, Slovenia got all their five girls to the semifinal and France four.

Natalia Grossman was #27 and just missed the semifinal. Oriane Bertone, who like Grossman, is one of the favourites to get a medal and an Olympic ticket in the Combined, was 11th. The french comments to IFSC. (c) Jan Virt

“It went pretty well. I wasn’t expecting a lot as I haven’t really been training enough I don’t think to be one of the top ones in Lead. I was hopeful. I really wanted to do well because it is the World Championships and I’ve trained a lot, but I just climbed and it went very well as I happened to be above the bar of 40. I was 40+, and that was a big achievement for me. It’s the first time I think I have done it in a comp. It was not too pumpy, there were some boulder moves, and it was a lot of fun.

I class myself as mainly a boulderer as I train much more in that, but I’m starting to feel much more like a Lead climber now because I’m training a lot. I would say I’m a combined athlete.”

Marine Thevenet, who has completed over 90 boulders 8A and harder, has done Steppenwolf (8B) in Magic Wood. The former lawyer has just started her own business as a sports manager to help climbers and outdoor athletes to find sponsors. (c) Clement Lechaptois

”I tried Steppenwolf 2 sessions 2 years ago. At that time, I did some promising attempts :) This year I was really psyched to come back to Magic Wood to finish it since we didn't have the chance to climb in MW last year. I was curious to see if I had made some progress or not!

The first session this year was disastrous! I had a finger injury in April and I was not able to crimp at 100% with my right hand, but I naively believed that maybe I could compensate with something else 🤷‍♀️ Magic Wood quickly reminded me how strong in crimps you should be to send boulders haha! But being less in shape allowed me to find an easier beta for the end than the one I did some years ago. So I came back home with frustration and motivation to come back stronger with a totally fixed finger 😈 We came back for a short trip of 4 days in mid-July and, this time, I was able to climb at my best :)”

Austin Hoyt, who previously has sent six 8B+, has done Monkey Wedding (8C) in Rocklands.

”All in all Monkey Wedding took me about eight days to piece together on this a little more than a month long trip. I tried it the second day I climbed in Rocklands for the first time, I quickly unlocked all but two moves in a short session. The second day on it was the same situation just working through moves again, finally on the third session I found a sequence that worked for me did all the moves! I ended up going with the original beta that Fred, Paul, and Daniel all do with a little extra small left hand to slide into. On session four and five I managed to fall on the last move four times! Slowly it became more of a mental battle. Come session eight, my last fresh day trying the boulder and I managed to send it! Couldn’t have done it without Bryce Viola!”

What is your climbing background?
I began climbing about 11 years ago at High Exposure Climbing in Northvale New Jersey, and I still climb there today! Ever since starting I’ve been obsessed and likely climb five days a week. Training mostly focuses on board climbing, weight lifting, and a lot of projecting! Luckily I’m here in Africa with long time friend and training partner Adam Shahar, he’s insanely strong and going to rack up an insane tick list himself! We’ve pushed each other since day one, without the very friendly competition I don’t know if either of us would ever be where we are now.