Schubert, Duffy and Narasaki Win Olympic Tickets at World Championships
An "easy" round of bouldering followed by a tough lead route made for an nerve-wracking men's combined final
Photo by: Lena Drapella/IFSC
At yesterday’s IFSC World Championship Boulder & Lead combined men’s final in Bern, Switzerland, Jakob Schubert earned his second gold medal of the 2023 World Championships. After becoming Lead World Champion last weekend, he showed up once again in top form, placing first in the lead round and second in the boulder round to earn the Combined title. It’s his second time being crowned Combined World Championship and his fourth time winning a World Championship across all disciplines.
In the Boulder & Lead event – often referred to as “Combined” – athletes compete in both bouldering and lead climbing on the same day, earning points in each discipline that are summed together to reach a final score. The climbers first attempted four boulder problems, each worth up to 25 points. They then climbed a lead route worth up to 100 points. The top three athletes of the event would not only win a World Championship medal but also a qualifying spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Schubert, known more for his lead climbing successes, surprised many with his performance in the boulder round. He made quick work of all four problems, scoring 99.6 points. He was only surpassed by Narasaki, who earned 99.7. Sorato Anraku and Colin Duffy placed behind them with 85 and 84.7 points respectively.
Based on the scores, the boulder round was one of the easiest in recent memory. All eight athletes topped problems 2 and 4. Most climbers made problem 2 – a techy slab climb – look like a walk, with half of them flashing it. Problem 4 was a coordination problem that featured some super cool movement, but it was far too easy for the athletes. Six of the climbers topped problem 3, creating little separation. Problem 1 gave the group the most trouble, with only Schubert and Narasaki figuring out how to match the tricky final hold.
The relatively low-difficulty boulder round made the stakes higher in the lead round. Adam Ondra was climbing well until he read the beta wrong at at hold 35 and took an unexpected fall. This same spot sent Dohyun Lee groundward before him and also tripped up Narasaki later in the night.
Schubert put up the best performance on the wall, earning 84 points. Duffy put up a good fight on the headwall and scored 76. Leading into the final two competitors of the night – rising stars Toby Roberts and Sorato Anraku – Schubert held first, Duffy second, and Narasaki third. Roberts and Anraku would go on to both fall after reaching hold 37, which wasn’t enough for either of them to reach the top three.
Three Tokyo Olympians – Schubert, Duffy, and Narasaki – were once again going to compete for Olympic gold! At the last Summer Olympics, Schubert won bronze, Duffy placed seventh, and Narasaki placed fourth.
“Today was a big day,” said Schubert after winning gold. “Obviously, I knew I had to do really well in Boulder to have a chance for that Olympic ticket and the Boulder round couldn’t have gone any better for me I think. My dream was to go into Lead with a lead and then keep my nerves under control, and I think I did a really good job of doing that on the Lead route.
“I don’t think I actually realize what it means yet. Feels like there hasn’t been much time to think about it. I was watching the action and really hoping Sorato [Anraku] could show what he could do because he is such a good climber. I feel like he is the best combined climber right now. I had my day today, but we are definitely going to see him at the Olympics. For an older climber like me, now I can just focus and prepare for the Olympics, calm down a bit and now not do all the comps next year because I’m getting tired doing a lot of comps. So this has worked out perfectly.”
Duffy was equally stoked about his Olympic ticket. “It felt amazing,” he said. “I was just honoured to be on the stage in the World Championships Boulder & Lead final. This is the most difficult and proud final I have ever made. I just wanted to go into today, enjoy my climbing and not care about the result. I was able to enjoy every second on the wall in the Boulder and stayed calm in the Lead route, and I’m very happy to be standing here with another Olympic spot.”
Final Results
- Jakob Schubert (183.6) [AUT]
- Colin Duffy (160.7) [USA]
- Tomoa Narasaki (156.7) [JPN]
- Sorato Anraku (149.1) [JPN]
- Toby Roberts (143.4) [GBR]
- Adam Ondra (141.2) [CZE]
- Dohyun Lee (127.1) [KOR]
- Paul Jenft (102.8) [FRA]
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