Bouldering,  Sport Climbing

IFSC World Cup Prague 2023: First-Ever Gold Medals

The European circuit of the 2023 season has kickstarted with 185 professional climbers gathering at Letná Hill, Prague for the IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 event. This year’s competition gave a warm welcome to the return of Adam Ondra and Janja Garnbret to the World Cup circuit who were absent at the beginning of the season.

Men’s Boulder Final

IFSC WORLD CUP PRAGUE 2023 Men's Boulder
© Jan Virt / IFSC

The IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 held a diversified men’s final with every competitor representing a different nation. This kind of diverse final hasn’t been seen since the 2019 IFSC World Cup in Munich. It allowed for a very exhilarating and competitive final round for the men’s boulder.

South Korea’s Dohyun Lee held strong against the favorites Czech’s Adam Ondra and France’s Mejdi Schalck to make it to the top of the podium. Lee showed incredible skill and composure as he flashed boulder problems and topped all four boulders, which gained him his first-ever World Cup gold medal.

The home crowd celebrated their very own Adam Ondra for an outstanding performance that landed him in second place with the silver medal. Everyone in the audience cheered on Ondra as he also topped all four boulders showing that he is an unstoppable force in the climbing world.

Coming in third place, after failing to top the M3 boulder, is Mejdi Schalck. This marked his third medal of the season. His continued success has grown him a huge following and has really set him apart from other competitors.

Women’s Boulder Final

IFSC World Cup Prague 2023
© Jan Virt / IFSC

An emotional evening for France’s Oriane Bertone who took home her first-ever gold medal in women’s boulder at the IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 event. After back-to-back silver medals in Salt Lake City and Seoul, Bertone is continuing to rapidly rise in the rankings this season. Her precision and ability to quickly solve the first three boulders with limited attempts ultimately allowed her to claim victory over event favorite Olympic gold medalist Janja Garnbret.

Making her debut in the 2023 World Cup season, Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret did not disappoint as she placed first in both qualifications and semifinals. Her debut ended with her receiving the silver medal and taking her second place on the podium.

The French Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing team went home with their third medal with France’s Flavy Cohaut taking home the bronze medal at the IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 event. She held strong by topping two boulders, which in the end secured her place on the podium.

The IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 competition was a display of strong competitors from many countries that ended with the joyous celebration of two unexpected first-time winners. We look forward to the next Boulder World Cup, which will be taking place next week.

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For more information about the event pertaining to the results, location, videos, images, and so on, please visit the IFSC World Cup Prague 2023 event page. Looking forward to the next Boulder World Cup event, check out the 2023 IFSC-Climbing World Cup Brixen event which is set to take place from June 9-11, 2023.