Bouldering stars and rising stars from all around the world compete in 1 day at the IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Meiringen, Switzerland, the start of an exciting IFSC season which also features the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and IFSC Climbing & Paraclimbing World Championships in Innsbruck.
Since 2016, Meiringen marks the opening of the IFSC Climbing World Cup season. Nestled in the Swiss Alps, the mountain village welcomes a new strong field of about 250 elite Bouldering athletes on April 13th-14th.
Shauna Coxsey (GBR) has yet to lose in Meiringen, but as in 2017 the reigning Bouldering season champion will have to overcome a recent injury (finger) to continue her streak of victories with Meiringen runner-up Katharina Saurwein (AUT) back on the start list. Jongwon Chon (KOR) missed the finals cut last year, but the men’s Bouldering season champion and Meiringen runner-up Aleksei Rubtsov (RUS) are top candidates to medal. After dominating the Bouldering team rankings in 2017, Japan returns with a full lineup of podium contenders: Meiringen winner Kokoro Fujii, Combined season champion Tomoa Narasaki, Akiyo Noguchi, Miho Nonaka and youth Bouldering world champion (Youth B) Futaba Ito. Expectations are also high for the United Sates, sending youth Combined world champion (Juniors) Claire Buhrfeind and more strong contenders. From Switzerland, world champion Petra Klingler fell just short of the podium in Meiringen last year, but she will again be in the spotlight in front of her home crowd. Also keep an eye on Alexander Megos (GER), runner-up at the European Bouldering Championship in Munich.
YOG Athlete Watch
9 rising stars competing at the Youth Olympic Games in October will test their progress in Meiringen. Youth Combined world champion (Youth A) Sandra Lettner (AUT) will climb in her first IFSC World Cup, alongside Argentina native Valentina Aguado, Combined world champion Elena Krasovskaia (RUS), Keita Dohi (JPN), Petar Ivanov (BUL), Vita Lukan (SLO), Hannah Meul (GER) and Filip Schenk and Giorgia Tesio of Italy.
Tune-in to the IFSC homepage on April 14th for the semi-finals and finals live streaming to see how all the stars and rising stars perform, and track all the results here.
Rule Changes
Prior to 2018, attempts to tops in Bouldering broke ties in tops, followed by bonus holds if still tied. Now, bonus holds (called “Zones” in 2018) break ties in tops:
Number of Tops (T) / Number of Zones (Z) / Number of attempts to Tops / Number of attempts to Zones.
IFSC WORLD CUP (B) MEIRINGEN (SUI)
Provisional Programme (GMT+2)
Friday, April 13
09:00-15:00 Bouldering Qualification – Men
16:30-21:00 Bouldering Qualification – Women
Saturday, April 14
11:00-14:00 Bouldering Semi-Finals Men & Women 18:30-21:15 Bouldering Finals Men & Women after Award Ceremony.
Meiringen Bouldering Semi-Finals:
Meiringen Bouldering Finals:
