Sorato Anraku Continues Sweep of Boulder World Cup

Gripped Climbing Magazine

Sorato Anraku has won gold again at the latest Boulder World Cup in Alcobendas, Comunidad de Madrid. Anraku has won gold in all three of this season’s Boulder World Cup events so far. His medal in Madrid is his eighth Boulder World Cup gold. Joining him on the podium in Madrid were Team USA’s Colin Duffy, who placed second, and France’s Samuel Richard in third.

“I’m very happy of taking my third gold in a row, I just wanna say that,” said Anraku after the comp. “My favourite boulder was the one that I flashed, the last one, but topping the coordination one, boulder number two, was also great.”

For much of the event, it looked like gold could easily have gone to Duffy, with Anraku incredibly close behind. Both were the only climbers to top the first three problems. Duffy started strong with a flash of problem #1, while Anraku took two attempts. For problem #2 – the coordination boulder that Anraku enjoyed – Duffy topped in three attempts, but it took Anraku six. It took two attempts for both climbers to top problem #3.

Entering the fourth and final boulder, Duffy was ahead. Anraku climbed before Duffy, as dictated by the results of the semi-finals. Not knowing if Duffy would flash or fail the problem, Anraku had to give his all if he wanted a chance to win gold. In an epic show, he flashed the problem. In a dramatic finale, Duffy flashed to zone – but he dropped it and was unable to top the problem in the remaining minutes, resulting in his second-place finish.

Canadian climber Oscar Baudrand had a personal-best performance in Madrid, making the finals and coming in seventh overall. The next World Cup event will take place in Prague from June 3 to 7 and will see competitors in both Boulder and Lead.

Final Results

  1. Sorato Anraku (JPN) 99.3
  2. Colin Duffy (USA) 74.7
  3. Samuel Richard (FRA) 54.4
  4. Dohyun Lee (KOR) 44.6
  5. Keita Dohi (JPN) 44.3
  6. Guillermo Peinado Franganillo (ESP) 35.0
  7. Oscar Baudrand (CAN) 29.5
  8. Dayan Akhtar (GBR) 19.6

Men’s Boulder Final

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