World Climbing kicks off this year's World Cup season with the Boulder World Cup in Keqiao from May 1st to 3rd. For the competitors, it will be the first international competition of 2026.
With the first Boulder World Cup in Keqiao World Climbing kicks off the 2026 season. The elite of the international bouldering scene will meet at the Shaoxing Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center on the first weekend in May.
High-caliber starting field in Keqiao
The first World Cup of the season is a must-attend event for many bouldering specialists. Among those competing are not only the reigning Olympic champions. Janja Garnbret and Toby Roberts, but also other well-known names such as Jongwon Chon, Max Milne, Brooke Raboutou, Dohyun Lee, Mejdi Schalck and Chaehyun Seo.
Annie Sanders, Erin McNeice, and Oriane Bertone, the entire women's podium from last year, will also be competing. Jessica Pilz is also back on the mat after a long injury break.
Top image: Nakajima Kazushige/IFSC; bottom image: Dimitris Tosidis/IFSC
Team Japan once again has a broad base
Last year, the Japanese national team Japan has been particularly dominant in Keqiao, especially in the men's competition. Sorato Anraku will attempt to defend his title this year, and Meichi Narasaki, the bronze medalist from 2025, is also registered again. Japan is sending several other stars of the sport to Keqiao, including... Tomoa Narasaki, Sohta Amagasa, Miho Nonaka, Melody Sekikawa and Futaba Ito.
At the same time, several familiar faces are missing from the first World Cup of the season: Ai Mori, who recently won the Japanese national title in bouldering and lead climbing, will not be competing in Keqiao. Candidates such as Colin Duffy, Jakob Schubert, and Anna Apel are also absent – the latter due to injury.
Images: Nakajima Kazushige/IFSC
DACH region strongly represented
The DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) is also strongly represented in Keqiao. Hannah Meul, Lucia Dörffel, and Anna Lechner as well as with Elias Arriagada Krüger, Lucas Trandafir, Lasse von Freier, Finn Altemöller and Thorben Perry Bloem A number of internationally experienced athletes have registered for the World Cup kickoff in China.
Austria will be represented by Jan-Luca Posch, Raffael Gruber, Andreas Hofherr, and Lea Kempf. Switzerland will be represented by Levin Straubhaar and Julien Clémence. The season for the numerous lead climbing specialists will begin a weekend later in Wujiang.
World Climbing increases prize money for the 2026 season
For the 2026 season, the international climbing federation World Climbing has announced an increase in prize money for the World Cup finalists. A maximum total of [amount missing] is available for this season. 850.000 € in the pot, spread across 13 World Cup events in Bouldering, Lead and Speed.* That's more than double the number compared to the 2024 season.
This is a major milestone for our association.
World Climbing
For the athletes in the World Cup, the increased prize money is good news in itself – although it only actually benefits a few of them. This is because only the top eight finishers in each World Cup event and discipline win a share of the money.
The prize amount depends on the final ranking. Eighth place receives €1.000, with prizes increasing up to fourth place (€2.000). Bronze is worth €2.800, silver €4.000 and gold €6.000. Until 2021, only the six best female and male athletes were awarded prizes.
*Paraclimbing World Cups not included. More information on funding opportunities in paraclimbing can be found here.
Keqiao World Cup: Schedule & Program
The women and men will start their qualifying rounds together on Friday, followed by the two semifinals and finals on separate days. Since last year, World Cups have featured... 24 athletes in the semi-finals and each eight women and men in the final.
Keqiao (GMT+8) is located at six hours time difference Before Central European Summer Time (GMT+2). The times given are the local time in Keqiao.
- Friday, 1th May 2026
09:00 Women's Qualification
16:00 PM Men's Qualification - Saturday, 2. May 2026
10:30 Women's Semifinal
19:00 Final women - Sunday, 3. May 2026
10:30 Men's Semifinal
19:00 p.m. Men’s final
Live Stream
Local restrictions will remain in place this season as well. YouTube live stream from World Climbing. Viewers in Europe can watch the semi-finals and finals live on Discovery + or the Eurosport Player track – but for a fee.
Alternatively, you can use a VPN client to access the live stream on YouTube. World Climbing's geoblock applies to Europe, China, and parts of South and Central America. We will list the streams below as soon as they are available.
Women's semifinal (Saturday 10:30, GMT+8)
Women's Final (Saturday 19:00 PM, GMT+8)
Men's semifinal (Sunday 10:30, GMT+8)
Men's Final (Sunday 19:00 PM, GMT+8)
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Cover image credits: Nakajima Kazushige/IFSC