Japan’s Anraku proved once again he is a true all-rounder when it comes to climbing.
While others looked at the LA28 announcement that climbing would have three sets of medals – one per discipline – and started to think about focussing, you can see that Anraku would love to go for both Boulder and Lead.
After winning gold in Wujiang at the start of the season, Anraku had a little blip in his results with a 16th and ninth place finish in the following two – but the Boulder Series winner is back on top, and with a top.
Anraku was the only climber to top the final route to secure his win and after said: “I’m happy to come back and get the victory. I missed finals in Bali and Innsbruck, then I trained a lot after Innsbruck as I really wanted to win in Chamonix.
“I loved the crowd here and I think I shouted for the first time ever in a competition on the wall.”
One climber that could have displaced Anraku in the golden hotseat was Spain’s Alberto Ginés López who is yet to win a World Cup gold, and in Chamonix he was possibly the closest he has ever been to one.
With Anraku topping the route, Ginés López had to top to win on countback, and he came within fingertips as he fell jumping to the final hold. That hand slip meant a silver medal for the Spaniard.
Anraku knew he had gotten away with one, saying: “I will be in good shape for Madrid [at the next event]. I want to win again. But Alberto is in great shape, and he will be hard to beat. I think he is actually climbing better than me at the moment.”
Talking after his silver Ginés López said: “I’m happy because I improved from third to second from the last comps, but I’m still looking for that gold. I really want it.”
Just one move away from winning, Ginés López knew that gold was just within reach, and that was ultimately what stopped him achieving the feat: “I think I saw the gold too close. I already knew Sorato had topped the route so I knew I had to, and the last two or three moves I could see the gold; I just have to control my feelings more for the next comp.”
While Anraku and Ginés López have visited the World Cup podium before, the bronze medallist who joined them hasn’t – until now. Italy’s Filip Schenk won his first ever World Cup medal in Chamonix falling at the same spot as the Spanish climber.
Trying to gather his thoughts after his first medal Schenk said: “It’s crazy. I can’t really believe it. I think I will need some time to realise it fully. Doing it here in Chamonix as well is really crazy.”
It was only the third final for Schenk, and for some climbers it can be a bit of a nervous time, especially with the size of the crowd in Chamonix, but the Italian thought otherwise: “I think I was quite relaxed as I was already happy with my climbing, so even without the result I was happy, but the podium is of course much better.”
Just off the podium in fourth was Japan’s Yoshida Satone who climbed to hold 39+. Last year’s winner Colin Duffy from the USA ended his defence in fifth on hold 38+ with Switzerland’s Jonas Utelli just behind in sixth on hold 36.
In seventh was Slovenia’s Luka Potocar on hold 31 with Japan’s Omata Shion in eighth on hold 29+.
Full men’s Lead results here
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