Japan Continues to Dominate Men’s Boulder World Cup – Sorato Anraku Wins 2023 Season
The 16-year-old won this year's series, picking up a silver in Salt Lake City and a gold in Innsbruck along the way
Photo by: Lena Drapella/IFSC
For the fourth year in a row, Japan has won the overall IFSC World Cup in men’s bouldering. In 2019, Tomoa Narasaki won the overall season. Yoshiyuki Ogata then won in both 2021 and 2022. This year, 16-year-old World Cup newcomer Sorato Anraku took the series by storm, placing first overall after the season’s six events.
Anraku’s 2023 Boulder World Cup wasn’t without its ups and downs. He placed fifth in Hachioji, his first-ever World Cup event. He then came in 29th in Seoul. In Salt Lake City, he podiumed for the first time, earning silver. He then had a very successful series of events in Europe, earning seventh in Prague, fifth in Brixen, and his first-ever gold medal in Innsbruck.
“I got a fifth place in Hachioji and I was really happy but the second in Seoul didn’t go well and I had to [switch] my emotions a bit,” said Anraku. “But for a first season overall it went very well.”
In this year’s World Cup, South Korea’s Dohyun Lee came in second overall. The 20-year-old had steady performances throughout the series, earning gold in Prague and silver in Brixen. Comp climbing star Tomoa Narasaki placed third overall, winning gold in Salt Lake City and silver in Seoul. This is not his first time podiuming for the overall Boulder World Cup season. He placed second in 2017 and 2018 and first in 2016 and 2019.
Not a single North American made it into the top-10 men’s boulder rankings. Japan earned four of the top-10 spots. South Korea earned two, and Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Germany earned one a piece.
These final overall rankings are determined by points athletes get awarded based on their placement at each individual event. The higher their placement at an event, the more points they are awarded. You can view the top-10 ranked men’s boulder athletes in the 2023 Boulder World Cup below.
Top 10 Men’s Boulder Athletes in 2023 Boulder World Cup
- Sorato Anraku (3350) [JPN]
- Dohyun Lee (3130) [KOR]
- Tomoa Narasaki (3000) [JPN]
- Toby Roberts (2710) [GBR]
- Mejdi Schalck (2690) [FRA]
- Yoshiyuki Ogata (2335) [JPN]
- Jongwon Chon (2275) [KOR]
- Hannes Van Duysen (2140) [BEL]
- Meichi Narasaki (1945) [JPN]
- Yannick Flohe (1750.5) [GER]
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