Janja Garnbret from Slovenia and Jesse Grupper from the USA climbed to victory at the IFSC Lead World Cup in the French Alpine town of Briançon. Alex Megos won bronze ahead of teammate Yannick Flohé. Best German was Hannah Meul in tenth place.
In the men's final fought himself Jesse Grouper up to the highest hold and was at the top of the podium with 37 points. With this performance he secured himself in Briançon the first World Cup gold medal of his career. The American now has a full streak of gold, silver and bronze medals in the 2022 lead season so far, having previously won in Villars silver and in Innsbruck had won bronze.
"I'm still in shock and I'm really excited! I feel like this was probably one of the worst climbs of my life, but I was also so excited that I fought my way through every move."
Jesse Grouper
The Japanese Taisei Homma finished second at 35+ for his second straight World Cup silver medal - after winning earlier this month in Chamonix also stood on the podium.
The German Olympian won the last men's medal Alexander Megos., who won bronze with the same score as Homma. Megos was placed worse than Homma due to his result in the semifinals. Winning the bronze medal marked the Olympian's first World Cup podium of the season - his last medal having come at the IFSC Lead World Cup Villars 2021.
Megos' teammate ended up fourth Yannick Flohe, who was level with Homma and Megos, but was also placed worse due to his semi-final result. The American Olympian Colin Duffy was fifth at 34+, followed by the Japanese Yoshiyuki Ogata with the same score in sixth place.
Video: Highlights of the Semi-Finals IFSC World Cup Briançon
22nd World Cup gold in the lead for Janja Garnbret
Janja Garnbret didn't quite manage to hold onto the target in the women's final, but still secured the highest score at 42+. With the gold medal in Briançon, she wins the 53rd World Cup medal of her career
Janja Garnbret won four out of four possible Lead World Cups in the current season. Her gold medal table in the Lead discipline thus increases to 22. In the all-time lead World Cup ranking, the Slovenian is behind the South Korean Kim Jain with 29 wins and the Austrian Angela Eiter third place with 25 wins.
"I was really excited. Some sequences seemed tricky to watch, but then everything was fine - climbable and super beautiful."
Janja Garnbret
The Olympian Chaehyun Seo of South Korea took the silver medal with a score of 41+, her tenth World Cup podium since her senior debut in 2019. The reigning lead world champion has already won three medals this season: silver in Innsbruck and bronze in Chamonix.
The American came in third Natalia Grossman, who finished the competition with 41 points and won her second lead medal of the year - after six medals in the 2022 bouldering season. The American won her sixteenth World Cup medal overall last night.
The same score as Grossman reached her teammate Brooke Raboutou, who finished fourth in the semifinals due to her lower score. The Japanese Natsuki Tanii and the Italian Olympian Laura Rogora each reached 37+ and thus places five and six. Vital Lucan from Slovenia was seventh at 18+, the Japanese Ryu Nakagawa finished eighth.
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Credits: Cover Photo Lena Drapella/IFSC