At the first Boulder World Cup of the season in Keqiao, China, France's Zélia Avezou surprisingly secured gold ahead of Olympic champion Janja Garnbret. Japan's Sorato Anraku defended his 2025 title against Dohyun Lee and Mejdi Schalck.
Sixth gold for Sorato Anraku
In Keqiao This weekend saw the global bouldering elite meet for the first time in the 2026 World Cup season. In the men's competition, the favorite from Japan secured the victory. Sorato Anraku, just like last year, the gold medal.
The 19-year-old climbing star defended his title in a thrilling final against the Korean. Dohyun Lee and the French Mejdi SchalckIt is Anrak's sixth gold medal in a World Cup.
Men's Final Results
Surprise of the evening: Avezou beats Garnbret
The first gold medal of the season in the women's category surprisingly went to Zelia AvezouThe 22-year-old from France qualified for the final in 6th place, where she secured her first World Cup victory with a strong performance.
With only two fewer attempts, she eliminated the clear favorite from the semi-finals. Janja Garnbret, in second place. Bronze went to the Australian. Oceania Mackenzie.
Podium: Zélia Avezou, Janja Garnbret & Oceania Mackenzie (Image: Kazushige Nakajima/World Climbing)
Showdown with Olympic champion Garnbret
Garnbret's performance in Keqiao was highly anticipated: The Slovenian is not only a double Olympic champion and reigning Lead and Boulder World Champion, but also holds the medal record in the World Cup. In 2025, she only participated in selected World Cup events – all of which she won.
Garnbret, as usual, advanced to the semi-finals and finals in first place. There, she topped three out of four boulders, just like Zélia Avezou, and reached a zone, but needed a total of two more attempts than the Frenchwoman. The 0,2 point difference in the overall ranking ultimately decided between silver and gold.
"In the end, it was simply one mistake too many," Garnbret wrote on Instagram – and congratulated her competitor on her first World Cup gold. Zélia Avezou is, after Oriane Bertone, the only person to have beaten Janja Garnbret in bouldering in the past three years.
Congratulations, Zélia, on this well-deserved first victory!
Janja Garnbret
Women's Final Results
First gold medal for Zélia Avezou
Zélia Avezou is one of France's most experienced athletes. She has been competing internationally since 2018. In 2025, the 22-year-old won silver at the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City and finished fourth at the Boulder World Cup in Bern.
Avezou also regularly reaches the finals in lead climbing. At the 2024 European Championships, she finished third in the combined format of both disciplines.
Old and new faces in the final
The starting field at the first Boulder World Cup in Keqiao was not only top-class, but also extremely competitive – including the Olympic champion. Toby Roberts and many other well-known names such as Jongwon Chon, Erin McNeice, Oriane Bertone, Brooke Raboutou, Dohyun Lee, and Chaehyun Seo. Accordingly, the bouldering problems in the qualification and semi-finals were tough – both rounds yielded relatively few tops for both the women and the men.
The top eight athletes were not only familiar faces from the scene: In the men's competition, the 19-year-old Chinese athlete celebrated victory. Xuanpu Bai making his debut in a World Cup final in front of a home crowd – alongside stars such as Tomoa Narasaki, Jongwon Chon and Hannes van Duysen, which have been internationally successful for many years. Also Yufei Pan, who won in Bern in 2025, represented his home country China in the final.
Among the women, the 21-year-old also climbed her way to the top. Emma Edwards from Great Britain to their first "real" World Cup final, which they will compete in together with experienced athletes such as Annie Sanders, Oriane Bertone or Melody Sekikawa denied.
Edwards had already finished fifth at the 2025 Boulder World Cup in Prague – based on his performance in the semi-finals, as the final had been cancelled due to weather conditions. Both newcomers, Bai and Edwards, achieved sixth place in Keqiao.
Lucas Trandafir was the best German, finishing in 9th place.
Lucas Trandafir almost made his dream of reaching the final come true in Keqiao. The 18-year-old from Regensburg initially qualified for the semifinals in 21st place. There, he improved his position with a top and two zones, finishing in the unenviable ninth place. He thus came very close to achieving his season goal at his very first meet.
My goal is to climb in a World Cup final this year.
Lucas Trandafir
Trandafir was the only German to reach the semi-finals in Keqiao. Also competing were Thorben Perry Bloem (37th place), Lasse von Freier (39th place), Finn Altemöller (47th place), Elias Arriagada Krüger (51st place), Lucia Dörffel (29th place), Anna Lechner (41st place), and Hannah Meul (49th place).
The athletes will get their next chance on the mat at the Boulder World Cup in Bern from May 22th to 24thBefore that, rope climbers will be allowed to participate next weekend at the Lead World Cup in Wujiang from May 8th to 10th wounds.
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- World Cup season start 2026: Dates, information & live streams at a glance
- 2028 Olympics: separate medals for bouldering, lead & speed
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