On Saturday (4 May) at the IFSC World Cup Salt Lake City, 17-year-old Anraku Sorato made an impressive climb on the final boulder route and won his second career boulder World Cup title. This was his fifth World Cup win, with three others in lead climbing. His Japanese compatriot Narasaki Meichi took home the silver medal, while Austrian veteran Jakob Schubert won the bronze, marking his 11th bronze in boulder and 64th overall.
Anraku had won silver in boulder in Salt Lake City a year ago and followed that up with his first World Cup boulder title in Innsbruck, Austria. This time, he topped three of the four routes and made the zone on the fourth, securing the victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Both Narasaki and Schubert managed to top one of the boulders each, making zones on the other three.
After his victory, Anraku shared with commentator Alex Honnold via an interpreter how excited he was about his win and how it was an important milestone in his training. He explained that figuring out the moves on the final boulder gave him confidence to successfully top it, despite feeling nervous and stiff during competition.
On Saturday evening, home climbers Emma Hunt will compete in the women’s speed climbing event, while Sam Watson will compete in men’s speed climbing respectively. Watson set a new men’s world record last month with a time of 4.79 seconds and is expected to be a strong contender in this event too. The women’s boulder competition is scheduled for Sunday (5 May), adding to the excitement of this IFSC World Cup event.
In conclusion, Anraku Sorato’s impressive performance at IFSC World Cup Salt Lake City is worth noting as he continues to excel in both lead and boulder climbing events while Narasaki Meichi took home silver while Schubert won bronze marking their respective milestones too
