Japanese team takes podium at men's bouldering World Cup

Yesterday’s Women’s Boulder World Cup ended predictably. Janja Garnbret dominated the events, winning another gold medal. Today’s Men’s Boulder World Cup was a bit more exciting. The first surprise of the competition was that Jakob Schubert missed the semifinals, and then Tomoa Naraksaki and Colin Duffy didn’t qualify for the finals. Heading into the finals, a safe bet for gold would have been young Japanese phenom Soratu Anraku or Britain’s Toby Roberts, arguably the most exciting climber on the competition scene.

The first problem of the men's Boulder final was tricky, but five of the six finalists managed to overcome it. Anraku pulled off a flash in impressive fashion. His teammates Sohta Amagasa and Meich's younger brother Narasaki Tomoa dominated the problem in two and three attempts, respectively. Roberts also dominated three attempts.

The second problem of the night was the exact opposite. Wickedly curly and powerful, most climbers were unable to clear the first few moves. Anraku and Roberts had a good success, but both failed to secure the area. The problem was a complete shutout for all climbers, meaning the competition would be decided on just three problems.

Problem #3 was the slab. Anraku and Roberts showed it. Amagasa dominated on his second attempt, Narasaki on his third. By the fourth round, Anraku, Roberts, Amagasa and Narasaki were tied for the lead. The final problem was going to be deciding the podium places.

Amagasa, who had a career-best performance, finally nailed Problem 4, a very dynamic and fun exercise. Narasaki also managed to nail a feat. That leaves Amagasa in first place and Narasaki in second, each with three feats. Roberts could secure the top spot if he could nail a feat in a few tries. He failed to pass the big coordination dyno at the beginning of the problem, however, not even reaching the zone.

Anraku came last and it was likely that most spectators thought the competition was his. He cleared the starting dyno easily, but surprisingly failed to execute the shouldery mantle to the top. He tried again and again, experimenting with different versions, but nothing worked. He ended the round with an area for problem #4.

Amagasa, 24, wins the Innsbruck 2024 Bouldering World Cup. This victory is his first World Cup gold medal and his first place on a World Cup podium. His previous best result was a fourth place at the Bouldering World Cup in Salt Lake City in May this year.

“I can't believe it, it's like a dream!” said Amagasa after his victory. “My performance today was very good, almost perfect. I will now skip Lead and focus on the Prague event. Arigato!

Narasaki won silver, tying Amagasa for the summit but with more attempts. He also won silver at the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City last month. It was his fourth World Cup silver medal. Anraku, with two summits and one zone, took bronze. The event marks the third time in history that the Japanese team has won the men's Boulder podium.

Unlike Amagasa and Narasaki, Anraku will compete at the Paris Olympics. This year is his second season on the World Cup circuit. It is hard to remember a rookie season as incredible as the one he had in 2023. He reached the finals of every event in the cross-country skiing World Cup, placing sixth in Villars, fourth in Innsbruck, bronze in Chamonix and gold in Briançon, Koper and Wujiang. He also won silver at the Cross-Country Skiing World Championships. At the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, he won silver in Salt Lake City and gold in Innsbruck. All of these successes made him the world champion in both cross-country skiing and cross-country skiing. He ended 2023 by earning a ticket to the Paris Olympics at the Asian qualifiers in Jakarta.

Anrakus’ 2023 success continues into 2024. He has now put together three solid performances in the first four World Cups of the year. He won silver at the Bouldering World Cup in Keqiao, bronze at the Lead World Cup in Wujiang, gold at the Bouldering World Cup in Salt Lake City and now bronze at this Bouldering World Cup in Innsbruck. His ability to perform well in both Boulder and Lead makes him one of the favorites to win the Olympics this summer.

Parisian Olympians were a surprise in spades at the men’s Bouldering World Cup in Innsbruck. Austria’s Jakob Schubert and Australia’s Campbell Harrison failed to advance past the qualifying round, placing 21st and 47th respectively. In the semifinals, Japan’s Tomoa Narasaki placed eighth and USA’s Colin Duffy placed 14th, both missing their chance to make the final. In today’s final, Parisian Olympian Anraku placed third and Roberts placed fourth, leaving gold and silver to non-Olympians.

With the women's and men's Bouldering World Cups over in Innsbruck, the event now moves to the difficulty competition. The women's and men's difficulty semifinals will take place tomorrow, Saturday, June 29. The difficulty finals will then take place the following day, Sunday. See below for the full schedule.

Final results

1. Sohta Amagasa [JPN] (3T3z 8 7)
2. Meichi Narasaki [JPN] (3T3z 11 7)
3. Sorato Anraku [JPN] (2T3z 2 3)
4. Toby Roberts [GBR] (2T2z 4 4)
5. Elias Arriagada Krger [GER] (1T3z 8 11)
6. Ritsu Kayotani [JPN] (0T3z 0 24)

Men's bouldering final at the Innsbruck World Cup

Innsbruck World Cup Live Streaming Schedule

Semi-finals in the lead for women and men Saturday June 29 1:40 p.m. ET (10:40 a.m. PT)
Main women's and men's finals Sunday, June 30 at 1:40 p.m. ET (10:40 a.m. PT)