Janja Garnbret and Toby Roberts Win Gold at First Lead World Cup of 2024

The routes in the finals featured tricky downclimbs and wild traverses

Photo by: Nakajima Kazushige/IFSC

Aaron Pardy April 14, 2024

A few days after winning gold at the Boulder World Cup in Keqiao, China, Janja Garnbret picked up yet another gold medal win early this morning at the first Lead World Cup of 2024. Held in Wujiang, China, the three-day event saw 60 men and 59 women compete for gold. Garnbret topped both qualifier routes as well as yesterday’s semi-final route, setting her up well for the finals this morning. In the finals, she was the only athlete to top the women’s route, earning her gold. It’s her 27th Lead climbing gold medal – a mind-blowing number.

“I was just having a lot of fun and [I’m] just excited to be back competing,” said Garnbret after her win. “I had a good start back with Boulder and I hoped I would have the same with Lead, and I guess my Lead shape is as good as Boulder. I’m excited now to go back home and get some more training in before I return to do the World Cup in Innsbruck where I will do Boulder and Lead, and then it’s Paris.”

In men’s, Toby Roberts of Great Britain placed first after falling reaching for hold 37 on the men’s route. Japan’s Taisei Homma fell at the exact same spot earlier in the event. Because Roberts placed ahead of Homma in the semi-finals, he earned first while Homma took second. The win was Roberts’ second-ever Lead World Cup gold. He had a breakout year on the 2023 World Cup circuit, earning a gold medal in both Boulder and Lead. He also qualified for the Paris Olympics after placing first at the European Qualifier event in October.

In his usual fashion, Roberts put on a show on the men’s final route, fighting through intense pump and recovering from a couple mistakes. “I slightly misread the beta, but I managed to stay there and compose myself and find the right way luckily,” said Roberts after his victory. “Preparation for Paris is going well and I’m using this competition to see how I am doing after a hard winter’s training and I’m just enjoying competing on the comp circuit.”

Garnbret was joined on the Wujiang podium by China’s Zhilu Luo in second and South Korea’s Chaehyun Seo in third. Both put on stellar performances throughout the comp, but they could not best Garnbret. Japan’s Sorato Anraku joined Roberts and Homma on the men’s podium, earning bronze. The 17-year-old won silver at Boulder World Cup in Keqiao a few days ago.

Some big names were missing from the Wujiang Lead event, including Natalia Grossman, Brooke Raboutou, Oriane Bertone, Ai Mori, Adam Ondra, Jakob Schubert, Alex Megos, Jesse Grupper, and Mejdi Schalck. The next World Cup will be a Boulder event held in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 3–5, where we can hope for more American athlete turnout.