Japan Dominates as World Cup Season Comes to an End
For Canada, Alannah Yip finished in 24th and Oscar Baudrand finished in 26th
The 2022 IFSC World Cup season came to an end in Morioka, Japan, this weekend with Team Japan taking both gold medals in the combined Boulder and Lead event.
For men, Tomoa Narasaki took gold, which capped a big month of wins, including those at the Asian Championships in South Korea. “It’s been definitely a tough round, but I’m glad I have won the first-ever World Cup medal in this format,” said Narasaki. “To be honest, this morning I didn’t really feel like having two rounds on the same day, but I kept my focus and gave my best.” Ogata Yoshiyuki took silver and Fuiji Kokoro won bronze to complete Japan’s podium sweep.
For women, Japan’s Mori Ai dominated both rounds and pocketed her third World Cup gold out of three events. Mori and USA’s Natalia Grossman were the only climbers who topped all four problems in the Boulder round, respectively finishing with 98.8 and 99.1 points. In Lead, Mori was the best of the field, falling a couple of moves before the top and signing off with an impressive score of 190.9 points. Grossman eventually landed in second place, winning silver with 171.2.
“I am very happy of winning a medal in my own country,” said the Japanese 19-year-old moments before the medal ceremony. “Today it was fun, even though it was pretty tough to compete in both disciplines.” The bronze medal was won by South Korea’s Seo Chaehyun.
Women’s Highlights
Men’s Highlights
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