Japan Sweeps Top Six Spots at Men’s Briançon World Cup
16-year-old Sorato Anraku earned gold in the men's lead comp while Slovenia's Vita Lukan took the top spot in women's
Photo by: Jan Virt/IFSC
On Saturday, the fourth Lead World Cup of 2023 was held in Briançon, France. Japan absolutely dominated the men’s competition, with seven of the top eight finalists representing the country. World Cup newcomer Sorato Anraku won gold after being the only athlete to top the men’s route. The 16-year-old has been on a tear this World Cup season, taking gold in the Innsbruck boulder event and winning the overall 2023 boulder season. With this win in Briançon, he is the first climber from Japan to win both a Boulder and Lead World Cup event.
Anraku has been incredibly consistent thus far in the 2023 Lead World Cup, making the finals at each event – a laudable achievement in and of itself. He placed fourth in Innsbruck, sixth in Villars, third in Chamonix, and now first in Briançon. Is he on his way to win the overall season for both boulder and lead? It’s a feat that’s never been done within the same year in men’s World Cup competition.
“I’m surprised to win,” said Anraku after earning gold. “I love doing both Boulder and Lead and I want to win more medals. I really want to win the World Championships as well. Koper World Cup. Wujiang World Cup. I practice a lot and I want to win them all.”
Anraku was joined by teammates Taisei Homma and Satone Yoshida on the podium. Both athletes fell moving towards hold number 50, the third last hold of the route. Homma took silver, Yoshida bronze.
In the women’s Briançon lead event, Slovenian Vita Lukan earned gold, her first time ever standing atop a Lead World Cup podium. Her success in the series this year has been remarkable as she’s coming off a recent serious knee injury. Lukan reached hold 46 and was followed closely by Czech Republic’s Eliska Adamovska and France’s Manon Hily who both fell moving towards hold 45. Adamovska won silver and Manon bronze based on their semi-final standings.
“It’s amazing. I’m speechless,” said Lukan after her victory. “I did not expect it. I don’t know what happened. I just climbed and enjoyed the route. I fought hard, I gave it my all, and I’m really surprised. I’m just happy.
“It was a really tough season. I injured my knee in January and then again in February and I didn’t climb from then until the middle of April. I had an ACL tear and a meniscus tear so I went through surgery where they removed half of the meniscus. The season has been tough for me, the victory is unexpected, but it means a lot to me.”
Men’s Results
- Sorato Anraku (TOP) [JPN]
- Taisei Homma (49+) [JPN]
- Satone Yoshida (49+) [JPN]
- Yoshiyuki Ogata (49) [JPN]
- Shion Omata (44+) [JPN]
- Masahiro Higuchi (40+) [JPN]
- Hannes Puman (39) [SWE]
- Haruki Uemura (37+) [JPN]
Women’s Results
- Vita Lukan (46) [SLO]
- Eliska Adamovska (44+) [CZE]
- Manon Hily (44+) [FRA]
- Nonoha Kume (43+) [JPN]
- Molly Thompson-Smith (35) [GBR]
- Camille Pouget (34+) [FRA]
- Martina Demmel (34+) [GER]
- Natsuki Tanii (12+) [JPN]
Briançon 2023 Lead World Cup Finals
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
