Janja Garnbret wins first Boulder World Cup 2024 at Keqiao in China

Janja Garnbret’s favourite colour must be gold she sees so much of it. And the Slovenian climber saw a little more last night taking the IFSC Boulder World Cup Keqiao 2024 win. This is now her 16th IFSC Boulder World Cup gold medal.

The oldest and most experienced climber in the final six, that experience was clear from the outset as her five final rivals either couldn’t make the zone or took multiple attempts for a top on boulder one. Garnbret entered the stage. Flashed the boulder. And left with a wave to the crowd.

The crowd inside the Shaoxing Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center in Keqiao, China - a full house at around 1000 people - saw the Olympic champion continue that form to top all four boulders with three flashes. Her only hiccup, two attempts on boulder three when she slipped on the slab.

Garnbret said: "I feel really happy. Of course, after winning you always feel happy but I’m also excited to be back in China after five years. The last time I competed here was in 2019 in Wujiang so it’s good to be back.

"It’s the first World Cup of the season and you are always a little bit nervous because although I have been training hard over the winter you don’t really know what your competitors have been doing. I knew I was strong and I felt good, but you never know in a competition."

"Today I really enjoyed myself and I climbed like I wanted to climb. I was calm, felt very confident, and I just enjoyed the atmosphere and the competition."

Winning her first Boulder World Cup medal was Italy’s Camila Moroni who topped two of the finals boulders for silver. Moroni was the first out to try the problems after coming through the semi-final in sixth position. That meant the Italian had to sit and wait as she missed the zone on the final problem and had to see what her rivals could do.

Apart from Garnbret, no climber reached the zone, and that meant Moroni secured her first medal surpassing her previous best of fifth from Seoul, South Korea, in 2022.

After the competition Moroni said: "I was satisfied with my competition and my climbing, but I didn’t expect this result as it’s the first one of the year and you don’t know how strong the other athletes are. It’s my first time in China, for now I like it as I think it’s lucky for me because it’s my first World Cup medal. I like the venue and also the people."

The home crowd had something to cheer throughout the final, and onto the podium as well as Luo Zhilu matched her personal best with a third-place finish, also with two tops, but more attempts than second placed Moroni.

Luo said: "I’m satisfied with my performance. It’s been over a year since my last bronze medal so I am really excited about this. The result is above my expectation. I have made some changes to my training and now I feel more confident and really happy about this result."

France’s Zelia Avezou and Great Britain’s Erin McNeice both made it to their first Boulder World Cup final, ensuring personal best results. Avezou finished fourth topping one boulder and McNeice finished fifth, also with one top. Matsufuji Anon of Japan was the other finalist finishing in sixth with one topped boulder.

1 Janja Garnbret SLO 4T4Z 5 5
2 Camilla Moroni ITA 2T3Z 10 13
3 Zhilu Luo CHN 2T2Z 2 2
4 Zélia Avezou FRA 1T3Z 5 15
5 Erin Mcneice GBR 1T2Z 1 6
6 Anon Matsufuji JPN 1T2Z 2 4
7 Madison Richardson CAN
8 Chloe Caulier BEL
9 Stasa Gejo SRB
10 Oceania Mackenzie AUS
11 Futaba Ito JPN
11 Mao Nakamura JPN
13 Miho Nonaka JPN
14 Chaehyun Seo KOR
15 Hannah Meul GER
16 Anna Maria Apel GER
17 Miku Ishii JPN
17 Jessica Pilz AUT
19 Kyra Condie USA
19 Mia Krampl SLO
21 Alma Bestvater GER
21 Franziska Sterrer AUT
23 Afra Hönig GER
23 Laura Rogora ITA
25 Maya Dreamer ISR
25 Ryu Nakagawa JPN
27 Fanny Gibert FRA
27 Yuetong Zhang CHN
29 Jain Kim KOR
29 Giorgia Tesio ITA
31 Petra Klingler SUI
31 Yejoo Seo KOR
33 Anna Lechner GER
33 Sofya Yokoyama SUI
35 Helen Gillett USA
35 Noa Shiran ISR
37 Ayala Kerem ISR
37 Nekaia Sanders USA
39 Xuanzhen Chen CHN
39 Ingrid Kindlihagen NOR
41 Valentina Aguado ARG
41 Molly Thompson-Smith GBR
43 Yali Wei CHN
43 Chunhua Wu CHN
45 Elnaz Rekabi IRI
45 Maya Stasiuk AUS
47 Johanna Färber AUT
47 Ting-Chen Yao TPE
49 Jingyu Li CHN
49 Yawen Mi CHN
51 Anja Köhler BRA
51 Eilin Tan SGP
53 Emily Scott AUS
53 Lynn Van Der Meer NED
55 Yun-Shan Hsieh TPE
55 Regine Storå NOR
57 Ziqi Elly Gao HKG
57 Natalie Goh Sihui SGP
59 Si Wan Lei MAC
59 Sui Lin Renee Tan MAS