Garnbret takes double Golds at Innsbruck World Cup event

• Tuesday 20th June 2023

The stand-out climber at the Innsbruck World Cup event over the weekend was, once again, Janja Garnbret; in dominant form she took Gold in both the Boulder and Lead competitions.

Given Innsbruck hosted both the final Boulder event of the year and the first Lead event it was always going to be something of a blockbuster. For many athletes – especially those with an eye on Paris selection - Innsbruck offered the opportunity to do back-to-back Boulder and Lead comps to blow away any remaining cobwebs and road-test their overall conditioning. Conversely, for those that have avidly attended every Boulder event of the season Innsbruck was undoubtedly a really testing comp.

Women’s Boulder and Season Rankings

Having missed the first few Boulder events of the season Garnbret looked a little rusty In Prague, but – as previously reported – she still finished in second place and picked-up the Silver; not a bad season opener at all! Garnbret skipped Brixen but not only was she back on the mats for Innsbruck she was back at her best it seemed as she stormed through qualification flashing four of the five blocs. Brooke Raboutou however fought back in the semis to finish on top; Garnbret was down in fourth place as one of four climbers with three tops.

The final however belonged to Garnbret; climbing emphatically, she flashed all four blocs in the style which we’re so used to seeing, Garnbret’s win gave her the first Gold of her season. Natalia Grossman and Miho Nonaka finished in second and third respectively, both with two tops; Brooke Raboutou being forced off the podium into fourth.

Grossman’s disappointment at being beaten in Boulder at Innsbruck was no doubt made bearable given she had won the 2023 season overall Boulder title for the third time in her career. Miho Nonaka and Brooke Raboutou took second and third placed rankings from the season. The two highest placed Brits, Erin McNeice and Holly Toothill finished in 40^th and 59^th respectively. Both would have clearly wished for higher rankings but it’s a very competitive field these days but no doubt McNeice will take taken a lot away from her first season in the seniors.

Men’s Boulder and Season Rankings

Clearly demonstrating how competitive the men’s event is at the moment, Toby Roberts - last weekend’s winner – was edged out into 7^th place at the end of the qualification round! Meichi Narasaki and his Japanese team-mate Sorato Anraku, both topped all five of what were described as a brutal set of hard boulders. In the final round however, Sorato Anraku and Meichi Narasaki fought hard for the honours and finished in first and second respectively; Frenchman, Sam Avezou, took third place.

The 2023 Boulder ranking saw the 16 year-old Japanese climber, Sorato Anraku take the top spot with a convincing lead above South Korean, Dohyun Lee. Tomoa Narasaki managed to finish ahead of his brother to take the third place finish for 2023. Toby Roberts in a remarkable season took the fourth place finish, the highest ever place by a British male – even more impressive considering this was not only his first ever Boulder season and, in theory, Toby is a Lead and not a Boulder specialist! Three other British climbers showed what depth there is developing in the team; Max Milne, Hamish MacArthur and Jack MacDougall finished in 21^st, 32^nd and 38^th respectively.

Women’s Lead

Although eagerly awaited, being the first event of the Lead season many athletes would have been uncertain of their form going into Innsbruck, even Janja Garbret said as much. That said, it didn’t stop her posting a dominant result finishing as the highest placed climber after the two qualification routes. The chasing pack, led by Chaehyn Seo and Al Mori, weren’t that far behind however, nor were Jessica Pilz, Natalia Grossman and Brooke Raboutou. Britain’s Molly Thompson-Smith had a cracking finish in 12^th place too. Seo, Mori and Garnbret remained in the highest spots after the semi’s albeit Garnbret slipped into third place. Molly, along with several others including Laura Rogora and veteran Kim Jain, came unstuck lower down but her eventual 9^th place finish after the semi’s is a great result in such company.

Great champions however seem to have a knack for both keeping something in reserve and also being able to ‘turn it on’ when it matters most; Garnbret – doing exactly that – stormed away from the pack in the finals leaving Al Mori six moves off the pace and Jessica Pilz another eight more moves behind. Booke Raboutout, Chaehyun Seo, Mia Krample and Natalia Grossman all but fell off the same move as per Jessica Pilz.

Garbret had taken her second Gold at Innsbruck and was looking on top form again seemingly having put her foot injury well and truly behind her. Yes, she has shown herself to be vulnerable at times but on her performance in both Boulder and Lead finals she’s a shoe-in for the World Championship’s double in August and that would place her at the helm of the Olympic selection – again! If she can maintain this level of performance – which is highly likely – once more it seems that the best of the rest are fighting for second and third places behind her. Garnbret is still only 24 years old, it’s interesting to speculate how long she can maintain such form for.

Men’s Lead

If there was something of an inevitability about Garnbret’s dominance in the women’s lead field that couldn’t have been farther from the position in the men’s field after qualification. Having taken the Gold in the Boulder event and finished top in the 2023 season Boulder rankings Sorato Anraku promptly took the top spot in the lead qualification. Following behind the young Japanese climber were several more established climbers including Colin Duffy, Sasha Lehmann, Alex Megos and Jakob Schubert; interesting all these climbers haven’t done particularly well in the Boulder event but were now coming to the front of the pack in Lead. Toby Roberts, switched over well from his successful Boulder season and finished in overall 7^th place after qualification having come joint top on Route1. The other top ‘boulderers’ like Yoshiyuki Ogata, Dohyun Lee, Mejdi Schalck, Tomoa Narasaki and his brother Meichi Narasaki also all qualified for the semi-finals. Olympic Champion Alberto Gines Lopez also qualified for the semi’s.

Generally, the semi’s saw a number of Lead specialists rise in the standings – that trend continued into the finals. Sadly British interest ended in the semi’s when Toby Roberts finished in 16^th place. The final itself was an especially close round; all nine climbers finishing within four holds of each other. Whilst, Sascha Lehmann and Alex Megos both fell at the same high point, Lehmann took the Lead Gold on countback to the semi’s forcing Megos into second. Jakob Schubert, along with Sorato Anruku, Medji Schalck and Satone Yoshida all fell two moves lower but once again Schubert’s higher finish in the semi’s meant that he took third place finish.

The men’s final especially raised a number of interesting points that keen observers will no doubt be keeping an eye on as the Lead season progresses. Alex Megos reflected on how the younger generation are really taking the competition scene – especially Boulder - by storm. Speaking to IFSC after the finals Megos said, "The next generation is coming, and it's coming fast. Sorato is 16 and he did three rounds in Boulder, then three rounds in Lead, and he doesn't seem to be tired at all. His climbing style is crazy, I'm sure he will win many more medals in the future." Schubert too reflected on the situation albeit being somewhat more ebullient about older climbers in the Lead saying "Experience can still play an important role, especially in Lead, and I believe we, the old guys, can still compete with the young guns."

Next Up

Having finished Innsbruck, competitors now have two weeks to rest and re-group before the three Lead competitions at Villars, Chamonix and Briançon all follow back-to-back. They then have two weeks to reset again before the World Championships in Bern.