At the first Lead World Cup in the Spanish capital, the athletes once again faced particularly difficult semifinal and final routes. Dohyun Lee secured the penultimate World Cup gold medal of the season in the men's category, and Annie Sanders in the women's category.
After a tough final round at the last Lead World Cup in Chamonix The station also waited in Madrid with difficult and particularly boulder-heavy sequences on the routes. For the women, a spectacular paddle dyno in the lower part of the final route caused drama and surprises.
Two medals for the USA
During the jump, three of the eight finalists fell – including not only Belgium’s Heloise Doumont and Slovenia’s Rosa Rekar, but also the winner from Chamonix, Chaehyun Seo. Then it was up to her main competitors of the season, especially Erin McNeice and Annie Sandersto master the extremely physical rest of the route.
While Great Britain's McNeice failed to achieve a podium finish for only the third time this season, Sanders, like in his semi-finals, climbed in his usual static manner to the only top of the evening and the gold medal. Laura Rogora and Brooke Raboutou almost reached the end of the headwall, but fell while jumping onto the top hold.
Raboutou, who recently made her World Cup comeback in Chamonix, finishing fourth, thus won her first medal of the season in Madrid. And her last: The American has already announced that she will return to her rock climbing projects after the World Cup.
After Madrid, I'm going back to the rock.
Brooke Raboutou
Jain Kim narrowly misses the final
World Cup veteran Jain Kim She showed off her skills in Madrid at her more than 220th IFSC event. The 36-year-old climbed solidly into the semifinals with an eighth-place finish in the qualification, where she reached ninth place with Heloise Doumont. Due to her better qualifying result, the Belgian advanced to the final, which Kim narrowly missed.
First lead gold for Dohyun Lee
In the men’s competition, Dohyun Lee The South Korean has reached the finals of all but two Bouldering and Lead World Cup events this year. Besides a silver medal (Keqiao) and a bronze medal (Salt Lake City) in bouldering, he has yet to achieve a lead podium finish.
In Madrid, Lee continued to improve, climbing from 7th place in qualifying to 6th place in the semifinals. With his high point in the final, he climbed to his first gold of the season—and his first ever lead title.
It feels totally surreal. I'm so happy.
Dohyun Lee
Ginés López takes silver in front of the home crowd
However, the clear favorite of the evening was Alberto Gines Lopez, who, as the only Spanish finalist, must have heard the loud support of his home crowd high up on the wall. As the runner-up in the semifinals, he came extremely close to Dohyun Lee's high point. With his fall – just one move earlier than the Korean – López ultimately had to settle for a silver medal, just as he did in Chamonix.
Satone Yoshida, who suffered a nasty fall in the semifinals and hit a hold backward with his hip, completed the podium. As one of four Japanese athletes in the extremely close final, he achieved the best result for his national team. Overall, the top six of the eight finalists fell between the 38th and 41st holds.
Last stop of the season: Koper, Slovenia
After an intensive summer, the athletes now have a longer break until the last Lead World Cup in the Slovenian Copper takes place. Local hero Janja Garnbret will be honored there again.
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Credits cover photo: IFSC/Dimitris Tosidis