Boulder World Cup 2017: Canadians in Meiringen

The 2017 World Cup of Bouldering is about to kick off in Meiringen, Switzerland. Sean McColl and Zach Richardson are the only Canadians who will be competing. For the full start list see here.

UPDATE: The IFSC events in 2017 will not be livestreamed on Youtube, you will have to pay to watch here.

McColl and Richardson are fresh off competing in Finals at the Tour de Bloc Championships at Up the Bloc in Ontario. McColl finished second and Richardson in fourth. Canadian team officials for the IFSC tour are McColl and Malek Taleb from Boiler Room gym in Ontario.

One week till the first World Cup in Meiringen where we will start our pledge to donate ?for every Canadian top! $25 for a qualifier top $75 for a semifinal top $200 for a final top Who else is hoping @mccollsean tops all 13 problems next weekend? ?‍♂️? That would be $1225! We would probably buy him a steak dinner too? #ifscwc #bouldering #climbing #competition

A post shared by Boiler Room Climbing Gym (@boilerroomclimbing) on Mar 31, 2017 at 6:31am PDT

Meiringen opened 2016 with a spectacular show at the Haslital Climbing Center, with the mountains of the Swiss Alps surrounding. This year marks the first season after Olympics inclusion for Sport Climbing, heightening the anticipation even more for the debut. How will things change? Which athletes will come back stronger than ever? Meiringen is the first test.

After an exciting and emotional victory at IFSC World Championships Paris last September, Petra Klingler will certainly be in the spotlight at Meiringen, climbing in front of her home crowd. Despite an injured knee, she has proven this off-season that she is still a formidable competitor.

Also recovering from injury is 2016 season champion Shauna Coxsey. Last year, the British star swept the first three competitions, and this year she says she can’t wait for the World Cups. Expected to join them is Miho Nonaka of Japan, runner-up in the season rankings last year, as well as her legendary teammate Akiyo Noguchi who finished fourth.

Japan is also the team to watch for the men. Season champion Tomoa Narasaki mystified audiences all last year (especially with his victory at Paris which prevented Adam Ondra from defending the world title) and Kokoro Fujii continues to stand tall on IFSC podiums.

Still, Aleksei Rubtsov of Russia left the arena wearing Gold last year, and his enthusiasm is high again this year. Also keep an eye on Switzerland’s own Baptiste Ometz, who finished 2016 on a high note with second place at IFSC Youth World Championships Guangzhou and now has a full year of experience at IFSC Bouldering events. Watch highlights from Meiringen 2016 below.