The Japanese climbers once again demonstrated their strength at the last Lead World Cup of the season and secured five out of six podium places. Jessica Pilz was the only non-Japanese woman on the podium. The Austrian wins silver and thus gold in the overall World Cup.
The Japanese won the Lead World Cup in Wujiang, the last stop of the IFSC World Tour Ai Mori at 36+ Jessica Pilz (31+) and teammate Natsuki Tanii (26+) won the gold medal. For Austrian Pilz it is the 20th World Cup podium of her career and the third of the 2023 season.
Jessica Pilz wins the lead overall World Cup
Thanks in part to the excellent results at the World Championships in Bern, Jessica Pilz wins the lead overall World Cup with 3235 points. The five best results from the six IFSC Lead World Cups of the current season will be counted for the ranking.
Janja Garnbret only took part in three competitions in 2023, but she won all of them. This was enough for the strong Slovenian to take second place in the overall ranking (3000 points). Your teammate Vital Lucan secured bronze with 2725 points.
Sorato Anraku wins whatever there is to win
The World Cup in Wujiang - like most international competitions during the year - was dominated by the Japanese high flyer Sorato Anraku. He won the gold medal with 39+ ahead of his two teammates Shion Omata (30+) and Taisei Homma (26+).
I'm just happy to have won another medal here in Wujiang. However, I'm a little annoyed that I didn't make it to the top.
Sorato Anraku
The overall World Cup winner for the men was already decided before Wujiang. Since Sorato Anraku had won three competitions in a row, his score of 4300 points was unattainable for his competitors.
The 16-year-old Japanese is the first athlete ever to crown his men's debut with a gold medal in the bouldering and lead overall World Cup.
Second place in the overall annual ranking went to him Alexander Megos. (2650 points), who made it onto the podium twice this season. The Japanese Taisei Homma won bronze with 2455 points.
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Credits: Cover picture Dimitris Tosidis