Reducing 24 semi-final climbers down to eight for a final is always quite brutal, especially if the qualification didn’t go as well as you thought it would.
For the Lead finals in Chamonix you have a few of the usual suspects, but there are others who came out with nothing to lose after sneaking into the semi-final and are now firmly in with a shot at a podium place.
The only top of the semi-finals came in the women’s competition, and it was USA’s Annie Sanders who not only is having a great World Cup season but has also topped all three Chamonix routes and will be brimming with confidence for the final.
Great Britain’s Erin McNeice was a little further down the order than she has been used to in 2025, but even so, composed herself as she always does and climbed to hold 43+ for second spot and a finals place.
Sharing multiple podiums with McNeice this season, and even sharing a gold medal with the Brit, is South Korea’s Chaehyun Seo. The two will continue their ‘rivalry’ once more as Seo made it through in third on hold 42.
In fourth and fifth respectively are the French duo of Zélia Avezou and Camille Pouget. Avezou climbed to hold 41+ and Pouget to hold 39.
With French roots, and in her comeback event, USA’s Brooke Raboutou will feature in the final after reaching hold 38+ for sixth spot. No doubt the popular climber will get a lot of support also from the Chamonix crowd.
Making her first final is Geila Macià Martín with a hold 36+ climb. The Spanish climber is having a bit of a breakthrough year in both Boulder and Lead on the senior stage and she will be looking forward to the occasion of testing herself against some of the best climbers in the world.
Talking about testing yourself, Japan’s Tanii Natsuki has been on the podium of a lead World Cup before, and been in over 20 finals, but sitting in the 24th spot after qualification she had work to do.
As the first climber out for the semi-final, Tanii actually laid down the marker of hold 35 for everyone to beat, and while some passed, many couldn’t, and she once again will contest a final.
Could finishing in the last spot in qualification and semi-final take the pressure off enough to let Tanii climb to a World Cup medal? We will find out later this evening.
Although not making it into the final, it was a big day for Brazil’s Anja Köhler who was taking part in her first ever World Cup semi-final.
Speaking about the experience Köhler said: “It was amazing, one that I could really enjoy. It was so cool, when I came out and saw the crowd I was a bit shocked because I’ve never climbed in front of so many people.
“I was a bit nervous at the start and I had a little bit of trouble with that, but then I could find a bit of a better flow, but then I was too pumped. I just hope I can do a lot more semis.”
Full women’s qualification Lead results here