Natalia Grossman wins Boulder World Cup 2023, Janja Garnbret faultless first in Innsbruck

If anyone ever doubted that Janja Garnbret had lost her magic touch, last night at Innsbruck in Austria the Slovenian proved them wrong. The 24-year-old Olympic gold medalist won the sixth stage of the Boulder World Cup 2023 in such a convincing manner that, despite injuring her toe in February and perhaps still not being on 100% form, she remains firmly the one to beat. This was Garnbret's second competition this season and she actually only just qualified for the finals, but in the last round she made it count and climbed with extreme precision up all four final problems, flashing each single boulder to produce a faultless performance that no other athlete could match.

The competition got off to a fast start with problems #1 and #2 flashed by Miho Nonaka, Natalia Grossman and Garnbret, meaning that Nonaka thanks to countback was in provisional lead. It was on problem #3 that Garnbret showed her true class, flashing it in a matter of seconds with a hugely impressive double dyno. Grossman had reached the top a minute earlier but her match came just after time had run out and she was awarded the zone therefore... a split second that made all the difference. Nonaka got no further than the zone, while Brooke Raboutou (best after the Semis), Mori Ai and Ito Futaba failed even to reach this. Garnbret ploughed into the lead and then wrapped up her amazing run by flashing the burly - and albeit somewhat reachy - final problem. Back the mats she cried in disbelief and relief and while her tears intermingled with the rain, the Innsbruck crowd, one of biggest on the entire circuit, cheered in delight. Just like on the previous problem, no other competitor got past the zone meaning that Garnbret won with twice the boulders compared to her closest rivals. And astoundingly, she had flashed them all. Although Innsbruck will no doubt be remembered as Garnbret's return, in truth she has never really been gone at all.

Innsbruck also acted as the final stage of the 2023 series and this was won, after the events in Hachioji, Seoul, Salt Lake City, Prague and Brixen, by Grossman who in doing so claimed her third World Cup series victory in a row after 2021 and 2022. She is undoubtably Garnbret's biggest rival and while they have rarely competed against each other, now that she is thankfully back in full health after stomach issues, their battles in the run-up to the Paris Olympics will be extremely exciting indeed. Nonaka placed second overall, Raboutou third.

1 Janja Garnbret SLO 4t4z 4 4
2 Natalia Grossman USA 2t4z 2 11
3 Miho Nonaka JPN 2t4z 2 13
4 Brooke Raboutou USA 2t3z 5 11
5 Ai Mori JPN 1t2z 1 3
6 Futaba Ito JPN 0t3z 0 12
7 Zélia Avezou FRA
8 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR
9 Fanny Gibert FRA
10 Anastasia Sanders USA
11 Jessica Pilz AUT
12 Oceania Mackenzie AUS
13 Martina Buršíková SVK
14 Mia Aoyagi JPN
15 Stasa Gejo SRB
16 Camilla Moroni ITA
17 Laura Rogora ITA
18 Chaehyun Seo KOR
19 Selma Elhadj Mimoune FRA
20 Afra Hönig GER
21 Zhilu Luo CHN
21 Melody Sekikawa JPN
23 Vita Lukan SLO
23 Elnaz Rekabi IRI
25 Katja Debevec SLO
25 Iziar Martínez Almendros ESP
27 Jain Kim KOR
27 Rebeca Pérez Duato ESP
29 Hannah Meul GER
29 Roxana Wienand GER
31 Madison Fischer CAN
31 Sol Sa KOR
33 Petra Klingler SUI
33 Anon Matsufuji JPN
35 Julija Kruder SLO
35 Franziska Sterrer AUT
37 Cloe Coscoy USA
37 Lucia Dörffel GER
39 Rocio Ailen Becerra ARG
39 Johanna Färber AUT
41 Maya Dreamer ISR
41 Noa Shiran ISR
43 Holly Toothill GBR
43 Sofya Yokoyama SUI
45 Sandra Lettner AUT
45 Yael Taub ISR
47 Chloe Caulier BEL
47 Alannah Yip CAN
49 Indiana Chapman CAN
49 Aleksandra Totkova BUL
51 Valentina Aguado ARG
51 Louise Flockhart GBR
51 Lucy Garlick GBR
51 Giulia Medici ITA
55 Kyra Condie USA
55 Lucie Delcoigne BEL
55 Andrea Kümin SUI
58 Daria Nesterenko UKR
59 Flavy Cohaut FRA
59 Alejandra Contreras CHI
61 Anna Maria Apel GER
61 Kylie Cullen USA
61 Laura Loikas FIN
64 Ryu Nakagawa JPN
65 Anna Bolius AUT
65 Lea Kempf AUT
67 Ariane Franken AUT
67 Leonie Hofer ITA
67 Anja Santini Mikulić CRO
70 Maya Stasiuk AUS
71 Margarita Agambayeva KAZ
71 Arantza Luna Velasco MEX
73 Rebecca Frangos CAN
73 Evdoxia-Aikaterini Kallia GRE
75 Lianet Castillo VEN
75 Miriam Fogu ITA
75 Lynn Van Der Meer NED
78 Anja Köhler BRA
79 Maya Klaunzer AUT
79 Regine Storå NOR
81 Grecia Daniela Hernandez Guerrero ESA
81 Vinnith Im CAM
81 Ignacia Mellado Quinteros CHI
81 Tegwen Oates RSA
81 Sara Trajkoska MKD
81 Danai Valsamidi GRE
81 Tseng-Shun Wong HKG
88 Rahil Ramezani IRI
89 Ariane Janata-Burns RSA
90 Iris Pamela Duron Antonio HON
90 María Fernanda Hidalgo Amezquita MEX
90 Lucie Watillon BEL

FINAL RANKING 2023
1 Natalia Grossman USA 3527.5
2 Miho Nonaka JPN 3005
3 Brooke Raboutou USA 2990
4 Oriane Bertone FRA 2649.5
5 Ayala Kerem ISR 1995
6 Stasa Gejo SRB 1893
7 Oceania Mackenzie AUS 1880
8 Janja Garnbret SLO 1805
9 Anastasia Sanders USA 1765
10 Chaehyun Seo KOR 1744.5
11 Hannah Meul GER 1707
12 Zhilu Luo CHN 1625
13 Futaba Ito JPN 1614.16
14 Anon Matsufuji JPN 1614
15 Selma Elhadj Mimoune FRA 1415
16 Fanny Gibert FRA 1372.83
17 Jessica Pilz AUT 1306
18 Melody Sekikawa JPN 1137.5
19 Camilla Moroni ITA 1121.66
20 Ai Mori JPN 1105
21 Johanna Färber AUT 1035.5
22 Mia Aoyagi JPN 919
23 Flavy Cohaut FRA 907
24 Madison Fischer CAN 841.5
25 Ryu Nakagawa JPN 812
26 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 785.5
27 Julija Kruder SLO 767
28 Katja Debevec SLO 759.5
29 Zélia Avezou FRA 702.66
30 Giorgia Tesio ITA 658.66
31 Kyra Condie USA 641.5
32 Petra Klingler SUI 597.16
33 Roxana Wienand GER 530.5
34 Sofya Yokoyama SUI 521.16
35 Mia Krampl SLO 508.5
36 Noa Shiran ISR 500
37 Lucia Dörffel GER 465
38 Laura Rogora ITA 380.83
39 Sandra Hopfensitz GER 353.5
40 Erin Mcneice GBR 347.5
41 Afra Hönig GER 338.49
42 Hélène Janicot FRA 292.5
43 Kylie Cullen USA 291
44 Cloe Coscoy USA 282.16
45 Martina Buršíková SVK 280
46 Nonoha Kume JPN 250
47 Nanako Kura JPN 241
48 Lucka Rakovec SLO 225.5
49 Franziska Sterrer AUT 222
50 Adriene Akiko Clark USA 186
51 Jain Kim KOR 177.33
52 Sara Copar SLO 161.5
53 Miriam Fogu ITA 156
54 Maya Stasiuk AUS 146.08
55 Mashiro Kuzuu JPN 145
56 Aida Torres Illamola ESP 137.5
56 Hana Koike JPN 137.5
58 Valentina Aguado ARG 134.25
59 Holly Toothill GBR 126.33
60 Elnaz Rekabi IRI 125.5
61 Sol Sa KOR 124
62 Agathe Calliet FRA 117.5
63 Chloe Caulier BEL 112.5
63 Vita Lukan SLO 112.5
65 Lucija Tarkus SLO 107.5
66 Yael Taub ISR 97
67 Iziar Martínez Almendros ESP 89.5
68 Alannah Yip CAN 76.66
69 Rebeca Pérez Duato ESP 75
70 Andrea Kümin SUI 70.16
71 Serika Okawachi JPN 68
72 Ingrid Kindlihagen NOR 56.5
73 Giulia Medici ITA 52.25
74 Molly Thompson-Smith GBR 51.33
75 Yuetong Zhang CHN 44
76 Evangelina Briggs CAN 43.33
77 Leonie Lochner GER 39.16
78 Sandra Lettner AUT 35
79 Aleksandra Totkova BUL 31.33
80 Indiana Chapman CAN 28
81 Anna Lechner GER 27.5
82 Manon Hily FRA 25
83 Michaela Smetanova CZE 22.25
84 Laura Loikas FIN 21.83
85 Regine Storå NOR 21.5
86 Maya Dreamer ISR 20
87 Liv Egli SUI 19.83
88 Eliska Adamovska CZE 19.75
89 Rocio Ailen Becerra ARG 19
90 Yejoo Seo KOR 18.58
91 Quinn Mason USA 17
91 Natalie Bärtschi SUI 17
93 Hongchun Xiang CHN 16
93 Anne Ackre NOR 16
93 Daria Nesterenko UKR 16
96 Mira Capicchioni USA 13.5
97 Lisa Klem NED 13
98 Bianka Janecka POL 12.83
99 Arantza Luna Velasco MEX 12.5
100 Jennifer Wood GBR 12.33
101 Elizabeth Sepulveda PUR 11.8
102 Rebecca Frangos CAN 11
103 Eugenie Lee GBR 10.5
104 Hung Ying Lee TPE 10.33
105 Zoe Peetermans GBR 10
105 Evdoxia-Aikaterini Kallia GRE 10
107 Alejandra Contreras CHI 8.5
107 Margarita Agambayeva KAZ 8.5
109 Babette Roy CAN 8.33
109 Iris Heikkinen FIN 8.33
111 Marketa Janosova CZE 8
112 Zoe Garcia Molina ARG 7.5
113 Mariana Hanggi Correia BRA 7
114 Louise Flockhart GBR 6.75
114 Lucy Garlick GBR 6.75
116 Gayeon Cho KOR 6.5
116 Anja Köhler BRA 6.5
118 Zoe Bitters USA 6.33
118 Martina Castro CHI 6.33
120 Svana Bjarnason ISL 6.3
121 Arina Jurcenko CZE 6
122 Lucie Delcoigne BEL 5.66
123 María Fernanda Hidalgo Amezquita MEX 5.5
124 Laura Farhat De Araujo Fraga Timo BRA 5
125 María Fernanda González Rámirez MEX 4.8
126 Sunniva Eik Haave NOR 4.5
126 Barbora Zitkova CZE 4.5
128 Sofia Alejandra Herrera Vega Centeno PER 4
128 Arta Matelsone LAT 4
128 Gayeong Oh KOR 4
128 Anna Maria Apel GER 4
128 Muykuay Silva CHI 4
128 Emily Scott AUS 4
128 Bianca De Magalhaes De Castro BRA 4
128 Chaeyeong Kim KOR 4
128 Claudia Ghisolfi ITA 4
137 Prateeksha Arun IND 3.5
137 Caterina Dal Zotto ITA 3.5
139 Anna Bolius AUT 3
139 Jordyn Damasco AUS 3
139 Lea Kempf AUT 3
139 Seunghyun Kim KOR 3
143 Miriam Diez Luengo ESP 2.8
143 Ema Galeova CZE 2.8
145 Ariane Franken AUT 2.66
145 Leonie Hofer ITA 2.66
145 Anja Santini Mikulić CRO 2.66
148 Liana Nicole Mora PHI 2.5
149 Alexandra Kateri GRE 2
149 Sara Trajkoska MKD 2
149 Ignacia Mellado Quinteros CHI 2
149 Rahil Ramezani IRI 2
149 Rosa Arnold FIN 2
149 Dasom Yun KOR 2
149 Valeri Kremer ISR 2
149 Natalie Goh Sihui SGP 2
149 Tseng-Shun Wong HKG 2
158 Wai-Mui Ling HKG 1
158 Maya Klaunzer AUT 1
158 Grecia Daniela Hernandez Guerrero ESA 1
158 Iris Pamela Duron Antonio HON 1
158 Vinnith Im CAM 1
158 Lianet Castillo VEN 1
158 Lynn Van Der Meer NED 1