Brooke Raboutou Releases Statement About World Cup Participation
No Boulder comps for the Olympic silver medallist. We'll have to wait and see about Lead comps.
Photo by: Lena Drapella/Jan Virt/IFSC
The women’s World Cup is missing several of its biggest stars for much of the 2025 season. Team USA’s Natalia Grossman is currently out recovering from knee surgery. Janja Garnbret recently announced that she’s only attending three events this year: the Lead and Boulder World Cups in Innsbruck, the Lead World Cup in Koper, and the World Championships in Seoul. Brooke Raboutou is focusing primarily on outdoor climbing this year, but she just clarified whether she’ll be participating in any Boulder or Lead World Cups.
“Ever since the Tokyo Olympics, I’ve told myself that 2025 would be my ‘outdoor year’,” said Raboutou via Instagram. “Over the past six years, I’ve prioritized competitions and sprinkled in outdoor climbing to keep my spirit alive. But this year, I really wanted to commit to my big goals on rock. I want to see what I’m capable of when I give myself the space and time to surrender to the process, without the urgency of preparing for the World Cup circuit or the Olympics. Excalibur marked the beginning of this new commitment: letting myself feel the frustrations and embrace the variables that come with projecting near my limit. There’s so much to learn, both mentally and physically, not to mention tactically.
“I’m already so happy with how this chapter is unfolding and can’t wait to keep learning the ways of the rock. I won’t be participating in any bouldering World Cups this year, and I’ll reassess the potential for a couple of lead events later in the season—if my heart desires. Huge congrats to [Annie Sanders] for taking the first win of the season, so psyched for you! I can’t wait to continue cheering on my friends and teammates as I take a step back this season!”
It’s currently unclear whether Raboutou will compete at the World Championships at the end of September in Seoul, South Korea. Other than the Olympics, the World Championships is the most prestigious comp climbing event, taking place once every two years.
Raboutou’s focus on outdoor climbing this year has already been incredibly successful. With her recent ascent of Stefano Ghisolfi’s Excalibur, she became the first woman ever to climb the grade of 5.15c (9b+). 5.15c is the world’s second hardest climbing grade. There are only three 5.15d (9c) routes in the world: Adam Ondra’s Silence, Seb Bouin’s DNA, and Jakob Schubert’s B.I.G.
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