Janja Garnbret veni, vidi, vici in Vail!

History was made on Saturday night in Vail when Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret became the first person in the history of sport climbing to win every single Bouldering World Cup in the same season. The 20-year-old Slovenian travelled to the USA safe in the knowledge that she had already secured overall victory thanks to her absolute domination of the first five stages, but she obviously wanted the clean sweep, six out of six, something that had never been done before.

In the semifinals Garnbret uncharacteristically dropped one boulder and consequently placed provisional second behind France’s Fanny Gibert, and after a nervous start on boulders #1 and #2 during which she pared with Akiyo Noguchi and Miho Nonaka, she then steered clear on boulder #3. Only one problem remained, some burley pocket pulling to poor slopers which proved too much for Mao Nakamura, Luce Douady and Nonaka. When Akiyo Noguchi managed to top it second go - securing overall silver - the stage was set for something special.

Garnbret knew it and she didn’t disappoint; with absolute perfection and clockwork precision she sent it first go, redefining what it possible before breaking down into tears of joy. Gibert no doubt heard the crowd roar in delight and, last out, fought valiantly but nevertheless failed to make any headway and eventually settled for third both in Vail and the overall World Cup.

Interestingly, despite Garnbret's undisputed domination ever since her devastating senior debut in the 2015 European Championships in Chamonix, this is her first overall Bouldering World Cup, and it joins her three overall victories in the Lead World Cup (2016, 2017, 2018) as well as her World Champion titles in Lead (2016) and Bouldering (2018).

Prior to Vail overall victory in the men’s event was still up for grabs, with Adam Ondra sitting in first place, 24 points ahead of Tomoa Narasaki. In the finals the showdown proved tense and the duo was perfectly tied after boulders #1 and #2, but things unravelled completely for Ondra on problem #3 as he struggled to find the right beta. When he finally worked out how to move across the slab his time had run out and Narasaki, seizing this rare chance, refined his beta and sent it second go.

Jan Hojer touched but failed to stick the top, unlike young Yoshiyuki Ogata who balanced his way into provisional second before proceeding to win the event - his first ever World Cup - by flashing the extremely physical problem #4. The only other athlete who managed the send was Jongwon Chon meaning that he secured third overall and - importantly - Narasaki was crowned season champion after competing in just 4 events, while Ondra slipped into second overall by a mere 5 points. For the record, this is Narasaki's second World Cup title after 2016, after being crowned Bouldering World Champion in 2016 and after claiming season's silver in 2017 and 2018. Talking about records: after struggling all season, Sean McColl finally returned to his former fighting form and placed 6th in Vail. In his 150th World Cup!

RESULTS VAIL
Female
1 Janja Garnbret SLO 4T4z98
2 Akiyo Noguchi JPN 3T4z56
3 Fanny Gibert FRA 2T4z39
4 Miho Nonaka JPN 2T4z55
5 Luce Douady FRA 1T4z28
6 Mao Nakamura JPN 1T4z310
7 Natalia Grossman USA
8 Laura Rogora ITA
9 Hannah Meul GER
10 Afra Hönig GER
11 Margo Hayes USA
12 Futaba Ito JPN
13 Alex Johnson USA
14 Kyra Condie USA
15 Alannah Yip CAN
16 Alma Bestvater GER
17 Jain Kim KOR
18 Allison Vest CAN
19 Julia Chanourdie FRA
20 Natsuki Tanii JPN
21 Chloe Caulier BEL
21 Brooke Raboutou USA
23 Johanna Färber AUT
23 Ashima Shiraishi USA
25 Valentina Aguado ARG
25 Vanda Michalkova SVK
27 Sierra Blair-Coyle USA
27 Vera Zijlstra NED
29 Paige Boklaschuk CAN
29 Jennifer Wood GBR
31 Nanako Kura JPN
31 Berit Schwaiger AUT
33 Sienna Kopf USA
33 Mei Kotake JPN
35 Mia Bawendi USA
35 Tiffany Melius AUS
37 Alejandra Contreras CHI
37 Piper Kelly USA
39 Madison Fischer CAN
39 Molly Thompson- Smith GBR
41 Maria Benach Zubero ESP
41 Aleksandra Kalucka POL
43 Muykuay Silva CHI
43 Itziar Zabala Zurinaga ESP
45 Heeyeon Park KOR
45 Katrine Vandet Salling DEN
47 Natalia Kalucka POL
47 Laura Stöckler AUT
49 Natalie Berry GBR
49 Noelia Venet Gallegos PER
51 Ana Belén Argudo Marugan ESP
51 Jennifer Marie De La Torre MEX
53 Beatrix Evans CAN
53 Sofia Alejandra Herrera Vega Centeno PER
53 Lilly Magditsch AUS

Male
1 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 4T4z119
2 Tomoa Narasaki JPN 3T4z55
3 Jongwon Chon KOR 3T4z67
4 Jan Hojer GER 2T4z46
5 Adam Ondra CZE 2T3z34
6 Sean Mccoll CAN 1T3z39
7 Taisei Ishimatsu JPN
8 Nathaniel Coleman USA
9 Kokoro Fujii JPN
10 Meichi Narasaki JPN
11 Tomoaki Takata JPN
12 Kai Harada JPN
13 Alexander Megos GER
14 Sam Mcqueen USA
15 Rei Kawamata JPN
16 Keita Dohi JPN
17 Arthur Ternant FRA
18 Sean Bailey USA
19 Yannick Flohé GER
20 Matt Fultz USA
21 Leo Avezou FRA
21 Jernej Kruder SLO
23 Alfons Dornauer AUT
23 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP
25 Aidan Roberts GBR
25 Rudolph Ruana USA
27 Simon Lorenzi BEL
27 Rei Sugimoto JPN
29 Nicolas Collin BEL
29 Jan-Luca Posch AUT
31 Mickael Mawem FRA
31 Zander Waller USA
33 Michael Piccolruaz ITA
33 Gregor Vezonik SLO
35 Alex Khazanov ISR
35 Lucas Uchida CAN
37 Marcello Bombardi ITA
37 Jason Holowach CAN
39 Philipp Martin GER
39 Héctor Adrián Martínez Cordero MEX
41 Zach Richardson CAN
41 Nathan Smith CAN
43 Bassa Mawem FRA
43 William Ridal GBR
45 Alberto Ginés López ESP
45 Josh Levin USA
47 Zach Galla USA
47 Diego Lequerica PER
49 Joe Goodacre USA
49 Carlos Granja ECU
51 Leonardo De Rivero Huaman PER
51 Franz Josef Weber MEX
53 John Brosler USA
53 German David Sanchez MEX
55 Alejandro Martinez Cordero MEX
55 Nickolaie Rivadeneira ECU
57 Franklin Cardenas Vicente PER

2019 FINAL RANKING
Female
1 Janja Garnbret SLO 500
2 Akiyo Noguchi JPN 320
3 Fanny Gibert FRA 308
4 Futaba Ito JPN 206
5 Jessica Pilz AUT 203
6 Petra Klingler SUI 180
7 Lucka Rakovec SLO 163
8 Katja Kadic SLO 161
9 Julia Chanourdie FRA 157
10 Shauna Coxsey GBR 145
10 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 145
12 Alannah Yip CAN 139
13 Alex Johnson USA 125
14 Afra Hönig GER 111
15 Miho Nonaka JPN 110
16 Mao Nakamura JPN 102
17 Sol Sa KOR 100
18 Kyra Condie USA 93
19 YueTong Zhang CHN 80
20 Ai Mori JPN 77
21 Mia Krampl SLO 74
22 Sandra Lettner AUT 70
22 Emily Phillips GBR 70
22 Elnaz Rekabi IRI 70
25 Vita Lukan SLO 65
26 Oceania Mackenzie AUS 62
27 Natalia Grossman USA 60
28 Ashima Shiraishi USA 58
29 Chloe Caulier BEL 57
30 Luce Douady FRA 51
31 Margo Hayes USA 45
31 Camilla Moroni ITA 45
33 Laura Rogora ITA 40
34 Johanna Färber AUT 39
35 Jain Kim KOR 37
35 Hannah Meul GER 37
37 Vanda Michalkova SVK 36
37 Berit Schwaiger AUT 36
39 Viktoriia Meshkova RUS 34
39 Mattea Pötzi AUT 34
41 Alma Bestvater GER 28
41 Nanako Kura JPN 28
43 Irina Kuzmenko RUS 23
44 Naile Meignan FRA 18
45 Valentina Aguado ARG 17
45 Rong Jiang CHN 17
47 Hung Ying Lee TPE 16
47 Allison Vest CAN 16
49 Urska Repusic SLO 15
50 Julia Pinggera AUT 14
51 Flavy Cohaut FRA 12
51 Natsuki Tanii JPN 12
53 Brooke Raboutou USA 10
54 Sienna Kopf USA 9
54 Hannah Slaney GBR 9
54 Jennifer Wood GBR 9
54 Margaryta Zakharova UKR 9
58 Lucia Dörffel GER 7
58 Aya Sugawara JPN 7
60 Anna Borella ITA 5
60 Natalie Bärtschi SUI 5
62 Sierra Blair-Coyle USA 3
62 Elena Krasovskaya RUS 3
62 Andrea Kümin SUI 3
62 Joanna Neame GBR 3
62 Sofya Yokoyama SUI 3
62 Vera Zijlstra NED 3
68 Charlotte Andre FRA 1
68 Paige Boklaschuk CAN 1
68 Anouck Jaubert FRA 1

Male
1 Tomoa Narasaki JPN 340
2 Adam Ondra CZE 335
3 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 264
4 Jongwon Chon KOR 228
5 Kokoro Fujii JPN 227
6 Jan Hojer GER 223
7 Aleksey Rubtsov RUS 214
8 Anze Peharc SLO 205
9 Jernej Kruder SLO 191
10 Jakob Schubert AUT 184
11 Rei Sugimoto JPN 174
12 Kai Harada JPN 148
13 Manuel Cornu FRA 143
14 Taisei Ishimatsu JPN 136
15 Gregor Vezonik SLO 121
16 Tomoaki Takata JPN 117
17 YuFei Pan CHN 112
18 Keita Dohi JPN 109
18 Alexander Megos GER 109
20 Nathaniel Coleman USA 104
21 Sean Mccoll CAN 87
22 Rei Kawamata JPN 82
23 Tim Reuser NED 80
24 Alex Khazanov ISR 72
25 Yannick Flohé GER 64
26 Vadim Timonov RUS 62
27 Sascha Lehmann SUI 60
28 Meichi Narasaki JPN 59
29 Yuji Inoue JPN 58
30 Mickael Mawem FRA 56
31 Alban Levier FRA 55
32 Nathan Phillips GBR 53
33 Michael Piccolruaz ITA 45
34 Sergei Skorodumov RUS 34
35 Nikolai Iarilovets RUS 27
36 Nicolai Uznik AUT 26
37 Sam Mcqueen USA 24
38 William Ridal GBR 20
39 Sean Bailey USA 19
40 Arthur Ternant FRA 18
41 Stefano Ghisolfi ITA 16
42 David Barrans GBR 14
43 Matt Fultz USA 12
43 Ryuichi Murai JPN 12
45 Florian Klingler AUT 10
46 Leo Avezou FRA 9
46 Alfons Dornauer AUT 9
46 Georg Parma AUT 9
49 William Bosi GBR 8
50 Gholamali Baratzadeh IRI 7
50 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP 7
50 Philipp Martin GER 7
53 Simon Lorenzi BEL 6
54 Marcello Bombardi ITA 5
54 Aidan Roberts GBR 5
54 Rudolph Ruana USA 5
54 Keita Watabe JPN 5
58 Zach Galla USA 3
58 Sergii Topishko UKR 3
58 Lucas Uchida CAN 3
61 Kipras Baltrunas LTU 1
61 Nicolas Collin BEL 1
61 Kevin Heiniger SUI 1
61 Jan-Luca Posch AUT 1
61 Martin Stranik CZE 1