2026 World Climbing Wujiang Lead Results: Annie Sanders Claims Gold

2026 World Climbing Wujiang Lead Climbing

From May 8th to 10th, the 2026 season made its way to the Fenhu Cultural and Sports Center in Wujiang, CHINA for lead and speed climbing. The 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead climbing event brought together elite climbers from 34 countries, setting the stage for an intense start to the lead climbing season.

This year also marked the 11th time Wujiang has hosted the international competition, further cementing its place as a key venue on the World Climbing circuit.

Throughout the competition, athletes faced powerful and highly technical routes that demanded creativity, coordination, and precision under pressure. Here’s a look at the results and highlights from the 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead climbing competition.

---

Men’s Lead Climbing Final

The 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead climbing final started off with a strong run by Japan’s Neo Suzuki who set the bar for the rest of the 7 competitors with a score of 44+. The crowd watched with anticipation as climber after climber fell short of the benchmark he had set, giving Suzuki the well deserved gold medal.

“I’m satisfied with my results, but my performance in the final wasn’t enough. I need to train harder…I want to get three gold medals at World Cup Series and all podiums.”

-Neo Suzuki, IFSC Interview

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Spain’s Alberto Ginés López delivered a strong performance to earn the silver medal securing him the second place on the podium with a score of 39+.

South Korea’s Dohyun Lee continued his impressive 2026 season following his silver medal performance in bouldering at the recent Keqiao event. Lee also finished on 39+, tying with López, but was placed third -securing the bronze medal- with the ranking determined by the climbers rank from the semi-final round.

The final climber to try to route at the 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead competition was Japan’s Satone Yoshida who came into the final after being the only climber to TOP the men’s semi-final. He was moving quickly and strongly through the route until a surprising fall short of the 40th move, missing the crimp. Although it was a disappointing end to his run, the result secured victory for his teammate, Neo Suzuki.

---

Women’s Lead Climbing Final

The 2026 World Climbing lead climbing competition was intense in the women’s final as the audience saw fall after fall so early in the route. Many climbers made it to a series of difficult pinches leading into a tricky jump to an overhang, falling quickly through the campus.

Our top three winners were the only ones able to make it through this tough section of the route to gain their spot on the podium.

The most notable win was to America’s Annie Sanders who pulled out a strong fight til the end coming down to the wire with only seconds left on the clock to take the gold. Her final score was 43+, taking the gold away from Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret.

“I was honestly quite a bit nervous on [the route]. I was like over gripping a lot, but I managed to get a lot back at the top and it paid off.”

-Annie Sanders, IFSC Interview

You could hear the audience gasp as Sanders jumped to the last hold giving her the edge to pull ahead of the two-time Olympic gold medalist Janja Garnbret. Garnbret had also scored 43+, but the count back went to Annie Sanders who had placed first in the semi-final.

South Korea’s Seo Chaehyun rounded off the podium with a third place finish scoring 30+ ahead of Great Britain’s Erin McNeice who placed fourth with a score of 29 at the 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead climbing competition.

---

Want to Watch the Event?

Missed the live broadcast of the event? No problem! Watch the full 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead climbing competition on YouTube through the World Climbing channel. The broadcast features complete coverage of the women’s and men’s bouldering semi finals and finals, allowing fans to relive the standout moments, impressive display of athleticism, and podium winning performances.

• Men’s & Women’s Lead Climbing Semi-Final
• Men’s & Women’s Lead Climbing Final

---

Follow Us for Upcoming Events

For more information pertaining to the 2026 World Climbing Wujiang lead climbing results, location, videos, images, etc., please visit the main event page. This event will also feature the first speed climbing competition of the 2026 World Climbing series on May 10th. Please check out the event page for further details about this event.