Natalia Grossman, Adam Ondra supreme in Salt Lake City Boulder World Cup

A dream came true for 19-year-old Natalia Grossman last weekend as she won her first-ever Boulder World Cup in front of a delirious home crowd in Salt Lake City, USA. The first of two back-to-back events exceeded all expectations and, finally competing in front of 2,500 masked-up spectators, the athletes delivered the goods with a series of mind-bending performances on boulders that - in the finals - were set to perfection.

Grossman had qualified for the finals with a clean sweep of all 4 boulders, and in the last round she pulled out all the stops to become - like a few hours earlier - the only athlete to send on all four blocs. Her top on #4, in the dying seconds of the event and on her 10th attempt, was truly indicative of her indomitable spirit. Grossman beat rising French star Oriane Bertone who, after her startling senior debut in Meiringen a fortnight ago, settled for second place once again, with 3 tops and 4 zones and, above all, a display of skill that belies her 16 years of age. What is likely to be the youngest podium of all times was completed by 20-year-old Brooke Raboutou who, prior to the last bloc, had convincingly led the field. Japan’s Miho Nonaka placed fourth after having dominated the opening qualifiers with a clean sweep of 5 tops and 5 zones, followed by Austria’s Jessica Pilz and Johanna Färber, who finished fifth and sixth respectively. It’s worth noting that Slovenian ace Janja Garnbret was absent and her decision to not take part meant that she ended her record-breaking run of victories - since Munich in August 2018 she had won all of the last 8 Bouldering World Cup events.

The men’s event was won, for the second time this season, by Adam Ondra who after a somewhat nervous start on boulder #1 that required 5 attempts, produced a faultless performance by flashing the remaining three problems. His hegemony in the finals was absolute but it is perhaps his top on his nemesis style - the coordination problem #2 in the extremely tough Semis - which pointed to a new level of control that has now stepped his game up even further. The 28-year-old beat what he himself has described as “the future of climbing”, namely 17-year-old Frenchman Mejdi Schalck who stepped on his first World Cup podium in only his third participation with 3 tops, 4 zones and a bout of unbridled, youthful energy. Bronze went to Austria’s Jakob Schubert with 3 tops and 3 zones, while Japan’s Kokoro Fujii finished fourth, ahead of Slovenia’s Anze Peharc and Gregor Vezonik, fifth and sixth respectively.

The third stage of the Boulder World Cup takes place this weekend, in Salt Lake City once again.

1 Natalia Grossman USA 4t4z 15 14
2 Oriane Bertone FRA 3t4z 7 7
3 Brooke Raboutou USA 3t3z 4 3
4 Miho Nonaka JPN 3t3z 7 6
5 Jessica Pilz AUT 1t3z 3 6
6 Johanna Färber AUT 1t2z 1 8
7 Futaba Ito JPN
8 Katja Debevec SLO
9 Fanny Gibert FRA
10 Mao Nakamura JPN
11 Stasa Gejo SRB
12 Alma Bestvater GER
13 Chloe Caulier BEL
14 Kylie Cullen USA
15 Giorgia Tesio ITA
16 Hannah Meul GER
17 Megan Lynch USA
18 Laura Rogora ITA
19 Sienna Kopf USA
20 Holly Toothill GBR
21 Jennifer Wood GBR
21 Franziska Sterrer AUT
23 Vita Lukan SLO
24 Mailys Piazzalunga FRA
25 Petra Klingler SUI
26 Andrea Kümin SUI
27 Afra Hönig GER
28 Emily Phillips GBR
29 Allison Vest CAN
30 Kyra Condie USA
31 Maya Madere USA
32 Roxana Wienand GER
33 Miku Ishii JPN
34 Katrine Vandet Salling DEN
35 Thea Wulff USA
36 Shauna Coxsey GBR
37 Molly Thompson-Smith GBR
38 Ryu Nakagawa JPN
38 Campbell Sarinopoulos USA
40 Genevieve Dennis USA
41 Ayala Kerem ISR
42 Erin Sterkenburg RSA
43 Lucia Dörffel GER
44 Hannah Slaney GBR
45 Yael Taub ISR
45 Naama Yohai ISR
47 Kathrine Elsig Jensen DEN
47 Alejandra Contreras CHI
49 Elizabeth Sepulveda PUR
Julia Chanourdie FRA

1 Adam Ondra CZE 4t4z 8 7
2 Mejdi Schalck FRA 3t4z 4 5
3 Jakob Schubert AUT 3t3z 4 4
4 Kokoro Fujii JPN 3t3z 12 7
5 Anze Peharc SLO 1t3z 2 8
6 Gregor Vezonik SLO 1t2z 2 2
7 Simon Lorenzi BEL
8 Sean Bailey USA
9 Alexander Megos GER
10 Mickael Mawem FRA
11 Nicolai Uznik AUT
12 Michael Piccolruaz ITA
13 Colin Duffy USA
14 Sohta Amagasa JPN
15 Aleksey Rubtsov RUS
16 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN
17 Rei Sugimoto JPN
18 Philipp Martin GER
19 Jan Hojer GER
20 Christoph Schweiger GER
21 Nathaniel Coleman USA
22 Tomoaki Takata JPN
23 Matthew Cousins GBR
24 Yannick Flohé GER
25 Sergii Topishko UKR
25 William Ridal GBR
27 Sascha Lehmann SUI
28 Nathan Phillips GBR
29 Jernej Kruder SLO
30 Nimrod Marcus ISR
31 Ross Fulkerson USA
32 Stefan Fellner USA
33 Sean McColl CAN
34 Alex Waterhouse GBR
35 Manuel Cornu FRA
36 Nils Favre SUI
37 Elias Arriagada Krüger GER
38 Quinn O'Francia USA
39 Nicolas Collin BEL
40 Julien Clémence SUI
41 Yuval Shemla ISR
42 Maximillian Milne GBR
43 Palmer Larsen USA
44 Oscar Baudrand CAN
45 Ram Levin ISR
46 Zander Waller USA
47 Alex Khazanov ISR
48 Filip Schenk ITA
49 Charles Barron USA
50 Benjamin Hanna USA
51 Christopher Cosser RSA
52 Ludovico Fossali ITA
53 Theis Lindegren Elfenbein DEN
54 Frederik Viberg Christiansen DEN
55 Carmel Raz Romeo ISR