Bali Did Not Disappoint: World Cup Review & Analysis

Bali was beautiful. It was also hot and humid. The Indonesians certainly put on a show, and the venue was spectacular.

The competition offered some of the worst conditions to climb in. Yet, the athletes still performed, breaking world records and topping all the routes.

Watson breaks the world record again and again

Going into the first Speed World Cup of the season in Wujiang, Sam Watson was saying he was going to break the world record. He didn't in Wujiang, but he broke it twice in Bali in some of the worst conditions possible for climbing.

Watson first broke the world record in the semi-final. He became the first man to run under 4.7 seconds, finishing in 4.677 seconds. He then won the gold medal by default when Ryo Omasa false-started. Watson decided to take his extra solo run after the false start. It was nothing more than a victory lap and gave him another chance to break the world record, which he did in 4.648 seconds.

These two runs were the fifth and sixth times Watson has broken the world record. This brings him level with Kiromal Katibin and 2 ahead of Veddriq Leonard. Watson is the only man who has broken the world record over the last year, pushing the record times down.

“NFL players do the two-minute drill where they do a simulation of going through processes,” explained Watson about his solo run, “and if I want to break a PB in practice I will do the same. I pretend I win gold, my opponent false started, and I just want to give the crowd one more run, especially this crowd in here in Bali. Everything just went right.”

Men's World Records (Source: IFSC)

Veddriq Leonardo looked to be struggling with a finger injury and adapting to his new beta on the speed route. He was still able to run under 5 seconds in his semi-final race in Bali, but it wasn't enough to reach the final four.

Watson's win is only his fourth gold medal and fifth World Cup medal. He won his first back in Edinburgh in 2022.

Ryo Omasa took second place. He won his first silver medal, which is also the first silver medal for a Japanese speed climber. Katibin won his seventh bronze medal in Bali after winning a bronze in Wujiang. Bali was his 11th World Cup medal.

Watson's win puts him in first place in the series, while Wujiang winner Jianguo Long is in second. Kiromal's Katibin's two bronze medals keep him in third place in the series.

Miroslaw returns to winning ways

Bali saw Aleksandra Miroslaw return to winning ways. The win was her 20th World Cup medal and 13th gold. While she was not close to her own world record, she went under 6.4 seconds twice in the competition.

She benefited from slips by her opponents in her quarter-final and semi-final runs. Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi was ahead of Miroslaw before she stumbled on the final dyno to the pad. Jimin Jeong was ahead in the semi-final race before she also slipped. Yafei Zhou slipped very low down in the final race.

“I’m really happy,” said Miroslaw, “I had to do some hard work after last week with my mindset. I’m really proud of myself. My coach, my psychologist, my manager, everyone understood and tried to help me, and the hard work has paid off.

I fought a lot inside at Wujiang, not the opponents, it was all inside me. You could see it. Now I just enjoyed the competition and did everything I could to come back stronger.”

Miroslaw has broken the World Record the last 10 times, but many other athletes have caught up to her in pure speed.

Women's World Records (Source: IFSC)

Yafei Zhou won the silver medal after beating Adi Asih Kadek in a close race in the semi-final, 7.32 seconds to 7.28. Bali was Zhou's second World Cup medal. She won her first World Cup medal in Seoul in 2024.

Kadek did go on to win the small final, beating Jimin Jeong. Bali was Kadek's first World Cup for the 18-year-old local Balinese athlete. It is great to see the next generation of Indonesian speed climbers coming through.

Miroslaw's win moves her up into first in the World Cup series ahead of Jimin Jeong in second. Lijuan Deng and Yafei Zhou are both tied for third place in the series.

Harder routes are needed, but McNeice makes it two in a row

After winning her first gold medal last week in Wujiang, sharing it with Chaehyun Seo, McNiece made it two in a row in Bali. She topped every route in the competition, a first for a British woman. She finished ahead of Chaehyun Seo based on the qualification rounds.

McNiece said after her win, “I’m so, so happy. I knew the route had two tops already, so it was stressful to come out and get the top, but I was happy to come out and get it.”

Seo's performance on the first qualification route let her down; Seo fell going for the third-to-last hold on the route. She would then top every other route in the competition.

Ai Mori finished third after timing out on the final route. She lost some time on the headwall compared to the other athletes after struggling to reach across on a deep lock-off move.

She reached the top hold of the final route within the time, but was not able to clip the final quickdraw to top the route before her time ran out.

The competition routes weren’t tough enough to separate McNeice, Seo, and Mori in the semi-final or final. McNeice and Seo finished on top, while Mori reached the final hold on every route.

McNeice's win moves her into first place in the series standings ahead of Seo. No British woman has won the Lead World Cup series. Laura Rogora's two fourth places move her up into third place in the series.

Yoshida finally wins in his 26th competition

Yoshida won his first gold medal in his 26th competition. He won a bronze medal in Briançon in 2023 and a silver in 2024, but not the gold. He has been in the top 10 of the Lead World Cup Series for the past three years.

Yoshida said: “I was very confident after getting first place in the semi-final and I went into the final very positive. But it is so humid, even when I chalked up a lot it was so sweaty and I sometimes struggled, but I was still confident.

I can’t quite believe I got the gold medal yet, I’m too excited.”

Max Bertone came out first in the final and set an early high point of 41. It wasn't until Yoshida came out last that his high point was beaten, bumping him into silver position. Bali was Bertone's seventh World Cup and third final. His highest previous place was fourth in Briançon last year. He becomes the 23rd French man to win a Lead World Cup medal. Sam Avezou is the only other French man still competing who has won a Lead medal.

Alberto Ginés López won his second medal of the season and fifth ever. The last time Ginés López won two medals in a season was in his debut season in 2019.

Yoshida's win moved him up into first in the World Cup Series rankings ahead of Ginés López in second. Neo Suzuki, who won a silver medal in Wujiang, finished sixth in Bali to stay in the top three. Sorato Anraku fell early on the semi-final route, finishing 16th and slipped to fourth in the Lead World Cup Series.

What's Next?

The next Speed World Cup is the Speed World Cup in Denver, USA, on the 31st of May. The event will be free for spectators. It will showcase speed climbing, with local world record holder Sam Watson set to compete.

The next Lead World Cup will be in Innsbruck, Austria, alongside the last Boulder World Cup of the series. Janja Garnbret and Jessica Pilz are planning to compete, as is Annie Sanders, who was absent in Bali. Colin Duffy and Jesse Grupper are both registered from Team USA. Toby Roberts, who struggled at the first two World Cups of the season in Keqiao and Wujiang, is also registered.

The next World Cup is a Boulder World Cup in Curitiba, Brazil, on 16th of May. The World Cup will be the first-ever South American World Cup.