At the IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Salt Lake City, Team Austria had a strong start and had two finalists each. The youngsters then secured the podium places: 18-year-old Mejdi Schalck won ahead of the Japanese Ogata and Kawamata. In the women's category, Grossman won ahead of Raboutou and Nonaka.
The first weekend of the IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City was in the sign of the youngsters. The young French talent took care of the men Mejdi Schalck for a surprise The 18-year-old solved four demanding and varied bouldering problems and thus secured the gold medal in front of the two Japanese Yoshiyuki Ogata and Rei Kawamata.
The young athletes also came up trumps among the women. The 20-year-old American Natalia Grossman lived up to their role as favorites and easily won gold. On her way to the podium, she flashed two of the four boulders and closed the final as the only athlete with four tops and just as many zones.
Her 21-year-old compatriot secured silver Brooke Raboutou with three tops and four zones. Bronze was won by the Olympic silver medalist Miho Nonaka from Japan.
Highlights of the bouldering final
Strong teams from Austria and Germany
The athletes from the German-speaking countries started the third World Cup of the season with great promise. Among the women shared Franziska Sterrer the first place in the semifinals with Brooke Raboutou, Jessica Pilz entered the final as fourth best.
With the gentlemen lay Jakob Schubert after the semifinals in first place. The Olympic bronze medal winner underlined that he is not only one of the best in the world when it comes to lead, but that he is also a force to be reckoned with in the bouldering discipline. Also showed a top performance Yannick Flohe and Nicolai Uznik, who moved into the Boulder finals in second and fourth place.
In the final itself, the teams from Austria and Germany unfortunately missed out on the podium. Nicolai Uznik finished fourth, followed by Yannick Flohé and Jakob Schubert. In the women's category, Jessica Pilz finished fourth ahead of compatriot Franziska Sterrer.
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Credits: Cover picture Daniel Gajda / IFSC