Sport Climbing IFSC World Championships 2025

[copravolley 565]

Zurloni hasn't won anything since the 2023 World Championship gold... And it still continues

[Gianlu33 5,423]

1 minute ago, copravolley said:

Zurloni hasn't won anything since the 2023 World Championship gold... And it still continues

You only need to look at the times to understand that Zurloni, under normal conditions, is never the favourite for a medal, not even in 2023. Then losing to Cardona is quite serious, he's one of those athletes to beat. 

[copravolley 565]

2 minutes ago, Gianlu33 said:

You only need to look at the times to understand that Zurloni, under normal conditions, is never the favourite for a medal, not even in 2023. Then losing to Cardona is quite serious, he's one of those athletes to beat. 

He was close in Paris... Unfortunately, we lack dominant figures in this sport, like Poland does in women's event. Zurloni will probably never dominate and you're right about that.

[Gianlu33 5,423]

1 minute ago, copravolley said:

He was close in Paris... Unfortunately, we lack dominant figures in this sport, like Poland does in women's event. Zurloni will probably never dominate and you're right about that.

Zurloni is a top-8 athlete, so anything beyond the quarter-finals is excellent news. We must be realistic. I would like to see more times with a sub-5 sec

[Gianlu33 5,423]

Unfortunately, there is no surprise in the final, as I had hoped, but Long has truly performed impressively over the last two years. The world title leaves Europe, but surprisingly does not go to the United States.

[MHSN 3,785]

ah , another 4th place after the Olympics. today is just not the day for our sport. 

[clemsonbeav 292]

Had some great races today and a lot of slips.  Congrats to , , and  for the medals!

 

(Michael Hom for the USA...gotta keep your eye out on him...he's good!)

[clemsonbeav 292]

A great Lead competition today.  I just finished watching after having to work today.

 

On the Women's side during Semis, probably the biggest upset was Laura Rogora  not making finals.   had three to make finals, which isn't so surprising.  They've got a great team.  17-year old Flora Oblasser  was into finals...she'll be one to keep your eyes on in the future!

 

For the men during Semis, Adam Ondra  , Colin Duffy  , Luka Potocar  , and probably most surprisingly Sorato Anraku  missed out on finals.  Giovanni Placci  made finals at his first WCH.  This is actually the first finals he's made during senior international competition.

 

And probably my favorite thing is that  siblings Sam and Zélia Avezou both made it to finals.    Love seeing siblings compete together.

 

Then during finals...

 

Sadly, Annie Sanders  didn't make the podium, nor did Erin McNeice  .  Instead, hometown favorite Chaehyun Seo  took bronze, while took the top two spots...19-year-old Rosa Rekar took the silver, her first senior level medal, and none other than Janja Garnbret took the top spot.  Olympic champion in 2024, World Champion in 2025.  She truly is amazing to watch.  The only one to top the route today.

 

On the men's side...

 

Jakob Schubert  and Sam Avezou  had high hopes, but had a low slip.  Alberto Ginés Lopez (2020 Olympic champion), who won the overall World Cup without having ever won a gold medal, has to wait another year for another medal.  Taisei Homma  reached the same hold as Alberto, but due to countback, Homma took the bronze.  Satone Yoshida , the World Cup bronze medalist, took silver.  And to the delight of the crowd, Dohyun Lee  nabbed top spot.

 

Looking forward to seeing some of these athletes over the next couple of days in Boulder!   (Hoping for a  medal!)

 

 

[clemsonbeav 292]

Quite an interesting semi-finals for W Boulder.

 

Five of the 8 finalists came from the bottom half of the quali results, including two who were tied for last place coming in.

 

Several new(ish)-to-finals competitors.

 

Perhaps most interesting is that Team  will not have a single representative in the finals, especially surprising since they occupied 4 of the Top 10 in the Boulder World Cup rankings this year.

 

Janja got flustered and wasn't able to complete the last boulder (the holds on the slab had gotten bad), but topping the previous three boulders ensured her a place in the finals.  I saw her flustered in Paris (with a slight injury), but she still came through in the end.

 

 

Competing in the finals coming up shortly...

 

8. Anna Maria Apel  Her first final this year

7. Jenny Buckley  Only her second final this year

6. Ayala Kerem  Hasn't made a worldwide senior finals since 2023

5. Melina Costanza  Hasn't competed at all this year.  Her last Boulder comp was 2022.  The only Boulder finals she made was the PanAm YCh in 2014.  (Yes, 2014.). (She won that one.)

4. Oriane Bertone  Finally, a more household name in bouldering.

3. Janja Garnbret  Can she pull off the double gold? And can Slovenia grab two medals again in this podium?

2. Annie Sanders  Double USA entry in finals!  Hopefully One of our two can pull it off!

1. Erin McNeice  Was low down in the quali round, but managed to win Semis.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2025 by clemsonbeav

[clemsonbeav 292]

Wow...what a final! 

 

MELINA!!!  I learned in the commentary that she is actually 5x  champ.  She wanted to climb this year in the WC, but had a knee sprain.  And after she qualified for the SF in dead last...she comes back and takes the bronze!   If you had said that would win a medal, I wouldn't have guessed it would have been her.  Annie unfortunately didn't have a great night.  But as Janja told her at the end, she is still young...just 18!  Looking forward to seeing more of both of these ladies in the future.

 

(Erin McNeice also didn't have the best night...could have taken the bronze if she had topped the last boulder, but it wasn't too be.  But still finishes fourth, which is commendable, but also annoying to her I'm sure, since she finished in 4th in Lead.)

 

Oriane ...she was in top form.  Flashed the first three boulders.  (Only spent 25 seconds on Boulder 1.)  Was ahead of Janja the whole comp, who fell a few times on Boulder 1.  She had 4 attempts on Boulder 4 to make the top for a guaranteed gold.  She flashes the zone...but then fell when she was going for the top hold.  She then rested well, getting all the strength necessary for a second and final attempt...but she fell again on the last move, leaving the door open after being ahead the whole comp.

 

Janja comes on the stage right after.  She had to do what nobody else had done this comp...top Boulder 4.  And if anyone can do the impossible, it's Janja Garnbret.  She goes out, makes the zone on her first attempt, but then falls.  Gets back on a second try...makes it to the final move....and makes it!  Gold for Janja...but she had to fight for it!  You can tell she was tired after yesterday's Lead (as were Annie and Erin).

 

 

Ok, men.  Your turn.   has Colin Duffy and Ben Hanna.  Colin is perfectly capable, but he's not consistent.  We'll see!

 

Such a good comp.