IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023: Golden Streak
Austria’s Innsbruck finishes up its incredible week of competitions with the IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023 event. As the Boulder World Cup finished up earlier in the week, it passed the reigns to the Lead World Cup which kickstarted with nearly 200 professional athletes from all over the world taking to the wall at the Kletterzentrum Innsbruck.
IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023
Women’s Boulder Final
A golden streak for Olympic gold medalist Janja Garnbret after a remarkable performance at the IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023 event saw her clinch back-to-back gold medals in both bouldering and lead climbing. Slovenia’s Garnbret won the women’s final boulder competition on Thursday and now adds to her achievements with a golden streak in Austria as she took to the top of the podium again in women’s lead climbing on Sunday.
“I’m incredibly grateful to win both the Boulder and Lead, even more grateful because I’m coming back from injury. I’ve never had an injury before so I had no experience or expectations and it’s even more amazing coming back because there were a lot of doubts, crying and just a lot of negative thoughts, so coming back on top I’m incredibly grateful.”
Janja Garnbret, IFSC
Garnbret dominated the lead final with 39+, completely surpassing her fellow competitors. Coming into the finals after strong performances in the semi-finals were Japan’s Ai Mori and Austria’s local favorite Jessica Pilz. Mori fell short of reaching the same level as Garnbret with 33+ which allowed her to secure the silver medal at the IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023 event.
Rounding out the podium was Austria’s Jessica Pilz with 25+. Despite the early fall, Pilz was still able to hold off against fellow competitors to take third place. The fans at the IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023 event were overjoyed to see their fellow Austrian take to the podium to receive her bronze medal.
Men’s Boulder Final
Germany’s Alexander Megos was sitting in first place during the men’s lead competition until the last climb of the night by Switzerland’s Sascha Lehmann pushed him out of the top spot. Lehmann took to the wall at the Kletterzentrum Innsbruck with immense pressure to beat the marker set by Megos of 44+, but he successfully edged Megos into second place by winning on countback with 44+.
“I knew I could climb well and I am a strong climber, but it’s a packed field, we saw that in Boulder with so many young athletes coming in. My Boulder season didn’t go that well so I hoped I could do better in Lead. I worked hard at Lead, but I wasn’t sure where I was at. I know I can perform on the big stage, and I did, so it feels amazing.
Sascha Lehmann, IFSC
The men’s lead competition was a close affair, that made for an exciting evening fans will not forget. Furthermore, the crowd celebrated another medal for Austria as another local favorite Jakob Shubert rounded out the podium by coming in third place. He claimed his bronze medal with a 42+ at the IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023 event.
As this Lead World Cup event finishes up, we look forward to the next lead competition which will be taking place in Villars, Switzerland.
Follow Us for Upcoming Events
For more information about the event pertaining to the results, location, videos, images, and so on, please visit the IFSC Lead World Cup Innsbruck 2023 event page. Looking forward to the next World Cup event, check out the 2023 IFSC-Climbing World Cup Villars event which is set to take place from June 30 to July 2, 2023.
