This competition is going to be a weird one.
It is sandwiched between the first competition in Europe and a long week of competitions in Innsbruck next week, with paraclimbing, boulder and lead world cups running back to back. Many female athletes, including Brooke Raboutou, Janja Garnbret, Miho Nonaka and Oriane Bertone, will skip Brixen to prepare for the lead season. They will return in Innsbruck.
This will be the second time Brixen has hosted a World Cup, and it will be the smallest location in the Boulder World Cup circuit this year.
However, the athletes and audience loved having the competition take over the town, and we are looking forward to being back. The wall in Brixen will steep and encourage powerful boulders, similar to Prague, so we can expect to see more old-school climbs.
Who to Watch
Last year, Natalia Grossman won gold with 11 flashes across the competition, including flashing every qualification and semi-final boulder. Hannah Meul secured her first silver medal in Brixen, and Zhilu Luo broke onto the scene with a bronze medal. All will be in Brixen again. Hopefully, we will see Natalia able to repeat her performance in Salt Lake City, where she looked back to her best.
Futaba Ito performed well in qualification and semi-finals in Prague, though she struggled in the final.
Stasa Gejo returned to a boulder final last week for the first time this year. She will be looking to improve on her 5th place from last week.
Oriane Bertone’s absence means the women’s overall will likely be decided in Innsbruck. However, Natalia Grossman can edge ahead with a strong performance.
On the men’s side, the notable absence of Mejdi Schlack breaks the overall World Cup wide open, and it will all come down to the competition in Innsbruck next week. The latest sensation, Hannes Van Dysen, is also absent from Brixen. Hannes Van Dysen is also absent from Brixen.
Adam Ondra will return alongside Dohyun Lee and the whole Japanese team of 8 athletes, including Tomoa Narasaki, Kokoro Fuji, a resurgent Yoshiyuki Ogata and Sorato Anraku.
You cannot count out last year’s gold medalist, Yannick Flohé, who was in Prague's final for the first time this year and will enjoy the steep wall the climbs are set on.
Predictions
| Rank | Men |
|---|---|
| ★ ★ ★ | — |
| ★ ★ | Adam Ondra, Doyhun Lee, Tomoa Narasaki |
| ★ | Yannick Flohé, Sorato Anraku, Yoshiyuki Ogata |
| Rank | Women |
|---|---|
| ★ ★ ★ | Natalia Grossman |
| ★ ★ | Hannah Meul |
| ★ | Stasa Gejo, Futaba Ito |
Weather
The weather looks like it will rain, and there will be thunderstorms on Friday and potentially on Saturday, which hopefully won’t disrupt qualification. The temperatures are quite low for June, with highs around 17C and lows of 6C means it may get quite cold in the evening. The humidity will remain high across the weekend at around 93%.
Where to Watch
The semi-finals and finals are split again, with the Women’s rounds being screened on Saturday and Men’s on Sunday at 11 am CEST (5 am EST) and 8 pm CEST (2 pm EST) on both days.
- Eurosport Player within Europe,
- ESPN Latin America and the Olympic Channel for Central and South America
- TVRI in Indonesia
- The IFSC YouTube Channel for other countries
You can catch up on the competition 24 hours afterwards on the Olympic Channel.
UPDATE (9 JUN 2023): Miho Nonaka is not competing at Brixen.
