Jakob Schubert and Janja Garnbret king and queen of Munich

The fifth leg of the Bouldering World Cup 2019 took place last Saturday and Sunday in Munich, Germany, and after Saturday’s qualifications, Sunday morning’s brutally hard women’s semi-final - most certainly the hardest this season and quite possibly the hardest to date - resulted in 18 women finding no tops, Ievgeniia Kazbekova reaching one top and, somewhat unbelievably, Janja Garnbret topping all four.

Despite this conspicuous lack of tops the round proved spectacular thanks to the problems that, for once, seemed to please both athletes and spectators alike. Garnbret’s astounding display of power and technique was replicated in the men’s event by Adam Ondra, the only athlete to top all 4. With the 5000 strong crowd already packed into the Olympiastadion in the early afternoon, the scene was set for a memorable evening showdown.

The night kicked off with the men’s final and an incredibly burly first boulder that foiled everyone - read former World Champion Aleksey Rubtsov, former European Champion Jan Hojer, double World Cup winner Jongwon Chon, Lead World Champion Jakob Schubert and Youth World Champion Anze Peharc - except for last-out Ondra. Dubbed the "master of movement" for good reason, Ondra stuck the fierce dual-texture holds and proceeded to flash the problem with disarming ease, getting his final off to the best start conceivable.

Although everyone topped out on Men’s #, no one managed to stick the crimpy dyno first go. That is, until Ondra came along. He’d wisely changed to stiffer shoes and his flash left him in total joy. And absolute control of the match. Men’s #3 traversed across a slab to reach a powerful rockover and difficult dyno finish. Rubstov’s top third go was extremely impressive, Schubert after struggling tremendously on the delicate slab managed to up the ante and stick it second go, while Ondra… well, he almost slipped off as his hand snapped from a tiny crimp, but somehow he stuck on and pounced to the finishing hold. 

His perfect score of three flashes seemed unbeatable and as the attention shifted to Mens #4, it looked as if the script had been written. First though the crowd rallied behind Peharc as he explored the explosive, unrelentingly physical boulder, then an inspired Schubert managed to hold the gigantic swing before cruising to the top. All of a suddenly the Austrian was in provisional first place with 3 tops and 4 zones and when Jan Hojer waltzed up it first go to secure a place on the podium, many believed Ondra would do the same. Or at least secure a zone for the win. But somehow it just wasn’t to be: somewhat unbelievably, first Chon (who had been so superior in the semis) then Ondra failed to make any headway whatsoever. Schubert grabbed his unexpected victory, his third in the Bouldering World Cup and his 21st World Cup win across all disciplines. Amazing.

Garnbret in the women’s final was the runaway favourite but as first-out Julia Chanourdie made her appearance in her second final in a row, the score among the best 6 was, as always, zero. Not for long though. Women’s #1 yielded to young Ievgeniia Kazbekova who had been so inspirational in the semis, and to Fanny Gibert and Garnbret who both flashed it with ease. After problem #2 Gibert and Garnbret were tied with two tops, just ahead of Mia Krampl who had battled heroically against the holds and the pain in her injured knee. Problem #3 proved slightly easier and was sent after four attempts by Chanourdie, and after 3 attempts by Mia Krampl and Gibert. Then Garnbret being Garnbret made of one of her briefest appearances to date, blasting to the top in less than 40 seconds to take the provisional lead. Her climb was over before it had even begun almost leaving everyone stunned in disbelief. At this point Gibert, who never won a World Cup before, trailed by two attempts and with her second go send of problem #4 meant that with 4 tops and 4 zones in 8 attempts she probably could not have hoped for more. The pressure was now on Garnbret, but before the 20-year-old World Champion came out her teammate Krampl produced one of the most endearing moments of the competition, with her tear-filled battle to the top appreciated to the utmost by the crowd. The onus was now on Garnbret, who needed a top to win. Her fifth consecutive victory this season would be hers if she reached the finishing holds in less than 4 attempts. She needed only one.

FEMALE RESULTS
1 Janja Garnbret SLO 4T4z55
2 Fanny Gibert FRA 4T4z87
3 Mia Krampl SLO 3T3z99
4 Julia Chanourdie FRA 2T2z55
5 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 1T3z37
6 Katja Kadic SLO 1T2z16
7 Vita Lukan SLO
8 Lucka Rakovec SLO
8 Camilla Moroni ITA
10 Alex Johnson USA
11 Vanda Michalkova SVK
12 Jessica Pilz AUT
12 Mattea Pötzi AUT
14 Emily Phillips GBR
14 Nanako Kura JPN
16 Viktoriia Meshkova RUS
17 Urska Repusic SLO
17 Johanna Färber AUT
17 Oceania Mackenzie AUS
17 Afra Hönig GER
21 Kyra Condie USA
21 Margaryta Zakharova UKR
23 Lucia Dörffel GER
23 Aya Sugawara JPN
25 Natalie Bärtschi SUI
25 Ashima Shiraishi USA
27 Alma Bestvater GER
27 Elena Krasovskaya RUS
27 Andrea Kümin SUI
30 Sandra Lettner AUT
31 Joanna Neame GBR
31 Jennifer Wood GBR
33 Chloe Caulier BEL
33 Anne-Sophie Koller SUI
35 Berit Schwaiger AUT
35 Hannah Slaney GBR
37 Julia Pinggera AUT
37 Elisa Van Der Wel GER
39 Julijana Kruder SLO
39 Roxana Wienand GER
41 Natalie Berry GBR
41 Martina Zanetti ITA
43 Laura Rogora ITA
43 Helene Wolf GER
45 Rong Jiang CHN
45 Sienna Kopf USA
47 Sofya Yokoyama SUI
47 YueTong Zhang CHN
49 Giulia Medici ITA
49 Hannah Meul GER
51 Brooke Raboutou USA
51 LINDA Sjödin SWE
53 Eliška Bulenová CZE
53 Leonie Lochner GER
55 Anna Borella ITA
55 Annika Pidde GER
55 Katrine Vandet Salling DEN
58 Lucie Watillon BEL
59 Celine Cuypers BEL
59 Vera Zijlstra NED
61 Eliska Adamovska CZE
61 Maria Benach Zubero ESP
63 serika Okawachi JPN
63 Naama Yohai ISR
65 Katrin Amann SWE
65 Nika Potapova UKR
67 Michaela Smetanova CZE
67 Yael Taub ISR
69 Tereza Širůčková CZE
69 Tiba Vroom NED
71 Anouck Jaubert FRA
71 Lucile Saurel FRA
73 Ana Argudo Marugan Belén
73 Muykuay Silva CHI
75 Alejandra Contreras CHI
75 Heeyeon Park KOR
77 Rachelle De Charmoy RSA
77 Valeri Kremer ISR
79 Myrto Petalidou GRE
79 Tseng-shun Wong HKG
81 YuZhen Baima CHN
81 Anna Davey AUS
83 Shifra Ben Avraham ISR
83 Sanja-Riia Collin FIN
83 Lurdes Gadala-Maria GUA
83 Yasmin Herrera GUA
83 Iuliia Kaplina RUS
83 Anna Krajushkina EST
83 Hannah Sealy-Fisher RSA

MALE RESULTS
1 Jakob Schubert AUT 3T4z78
2 Adam Ondra CZE 3T3z33
3 Jan Hojer GER 2T4z414
4 Aleksey Rubtsov RUS 2T3z56
5 Anze Peharc SLO 1T4z36
6 Jongwon Chon KOR 1T3z59
7 Tim Reuser NED
8 Gregor Vezonik SLO
9 Michael Piccolruaz ITA
10 Alexander Megos GER
11 Jernej Kruder SLO
12 YuFei Pan CHN
13 Nicolai Uznik AUT
14 Nathan Phillips GBR
15 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN
16 William Ridal GBR
17 Yuji Inoue JPN
18 Tomoaki Takata JPN
19 Alban Levier FRA
20 Taisei Ishimatsu JPN
21 Alex Khazanov ISR
21 Sean Mccoll CAN
23 Gholamali Baratzadeh IRI
23 Philipp Martin GER
25 Sergei Skorodumov RUS
25 Keita Watabe JPN
27 Sergii Topishko UKR
27 Lucas Uchida CAN
29 Alfons Dornauer AUT
29 Kevin Heiniger SUI
31 Mickael Mawem FRA
31 Luka Potocar SLO
33 Alberto Ginés López ESP
33 Christoph Schweiger GER
35 William Bosi GBR
35 Max Kleesattel GER
37 Alexander Averdunk GER
37 Hannes Puman SWE
39 Kim Marschner GER
39 Soya Shimada JPN
41 Marcello Bombardi ITA
41 Yannick Flohé GER
43 David Barrans GBR
43 Thilo Jeldrik Schröter NOR
43 Martin Stranik CZE
46 Zan Sudar Lovenjak SLO
47 Nikolai Iarilovets RUS
47 Jan-Luca Posch AUT
49 Sam Avezou FRA
49 Zach Galla USA
49 Fedir Samoilov UKR
52 Cheuk-hei Ho HKG
53 Leo Avezou FRA
53 Sean Bailey USA
53 Florian Klingler AUT
56 Loïc Timmermans BEL
57 Stefano Ghisolfi ITA
57 Georg Parma AUT
59 Josh Levin USA
59 James Pope GBR
61 Nimrod Marcus ISR
61 Max Prinz GER
63 Tamás Farkas HUN
63 Or Miniely ISR
65 Elias Arriagada Krüger GER
65 Jakub Konecny CZE
67 Nino Grünenfelder SUI
67 Ram Levin ISR
69 Bjørn Arnel Iisager DEN
69 Cesar Grosso BRA
71 Nils Favre SUI
71 Stepan Volf CZE
73 Benjamin Blaser SUI
73 Rolf Fredrik Serlachius SWE
75 Mark Brand NED
75 Vladislav Budnik RUS
75 Roman Kucera CZE
78 Felipe Ho Foganholo BRA
79 Nicolas Collin BEL
79 Jason Holowach CAN
81 Alejandro Crespocobos ESP
81 Elko Schellingerh. NED
81 Samuel Wingardh SWE
84 Chi-fung Au HKG
85 Yarden Pilpel ISR
85 Jakub Jiri Svub SVK
87 Rasmus Hüdsi EST
87 Matic Kotar SLO
89 Javier Cano Blazquez ESP
89 Romain Desgranges FRA
91 Bohdan Botnar UKR
91 Joshua Damasco AUS
91 Mykhayil Tkachuk UKR
94 Ludovico Fossali ITA
94 Markus Muinonen FIN
94 Thomas Salakenos BEL
97 Ionut-Cosmin Atomei ROU
97 Dylan Barks USA
99 Christopher Cosser RSA
99 Victor Sebros GRE
99 Aleksandr Shikov RUS
99 Frederik Viberg Christiansen DEN
103 Stefan Bednar SVK
104 Theis Lindegren Elfenbein DEN
105 Arnaud Ansion BEL
105 Vlad Cristian ROU
105 Tommi Haapala FIN
105 Milos Nemy SVK
105 Sarunas Oberauskas LTU
105 Sergio Pastor Martínez ESP
105 Orfeas Tsiaousis GRE
105 Matthaios Valsamidis GRE
113 Theofanis Ermis Theocharopou. GRE
114 Ronny Escobar CHI
115 Cristian Lanuza GUA
115 Maksim Lind EST
115 Keit Nurga EST
115 Tomi Salo FIN
115 David Zavacky SVK