The American Natalia Grossman finished the last Bouldering World Cup of the season as the best and crowned her clear overall World Cup victory with the gold medal in Innsbruck. Hot on her heels last night was Germany's Hannah Meul, who won her second silver medal in a row after Brixen. The podium was completed by the Japanese Miho Nonaka.
As already in Brixens it also came on Boulder World Cup in Innsbruck to a head-to-head race between the season's dominator Natalia Grossman and Hannah Meul. And again the result was extremely close: Both athletes achieved an identical number of points with four tops and four zones. In the end, Hannah Meul's additional attempt on final boulder three decided the podium finish. Miho Nonaka secured the bronze medal with two tops and two zones.
Double victory for Natalia Grossman
With the fifth gold medal and the last podium place of the season, the reigning bouldering world champion from the USA secured the overall World Cup victory by a clear margin - the second in a row, by the way.
With 5000 points overall, Natalia Grossman is only the fifth athlete to win more than one World Cup series. With her victory, she also belongs to the illustrious circle of only four women who have so far managed to win five or more World Cups within one season.
"I haven't really gotten it yet. I'm speechless."
Natalia Grossman
Hannah Meul wins the second World Cup silver of her career
We remember: With her silver medal in Brixen, Hannah Meul secured the first World Cup medal for the German competition team in seven years. Two weeks ago, the German missed gold by a hair's breadth.
The bouldering final in Innsbruck last night was something of a déjà vu. In a head-to-head race with Natalia Grossman, Hannah Meul again showed all her skills and secured her second World Cup silver medal in a row. Only an attempt on the third final boulder separated her from Natalia Grossman and the gold medal.
Video: Full-length women's bouldering final
Olympic silver medalist Miho Nonaka completed the podium in Innsbruck. She won the bronze medal with two tops and two zones and secured second place overall with that third podium of the season.
The Japanese finished with one top and two zones each Futaba Ito and the South Korean Chaehyun Seo places four and five – with only one try difference. Saki Kikuchi finished sixth, with zero tops but two zones.
IFSC World Cup Innsbruck Results Women
| Rank | Name | Country |
| 1 | Natalia Grossman | USA |
| 2 | Hannah Meul | GER |
| 3 | Miho Nonaka | JPN |
| 4 | Futuba Ito | JPN |
| 5 | Chaehyun Seo | KOR |
| 6 | Saki Kikuchi | JPN |
IFSC World Cup Ranking Bouder Women
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 1 | Natalia Grossman | USA | 5000 |
| 2 | Miho Nonaka | JPN | 3210 |
| 3 | Brooke Raboutou | USA | 2940 |
| 4 | Futuba Ito | JPN | 2560 |
| 5 | Hannah Meul | GER | 2345 |
| 6 | Oriane Bertone | From | 2316.5 |
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Credits: Cover picture Dimitris Tosidis / IFSC