Teenage climbers have their eyes on the prize before the second bouldering competition of a closely contested climbing World Cup.
The fourth round of the 2025/26 IFSC World Cup kicks off tomorrow morning in Curitiba, Brazil, and promises to be a corker. After just three rounds, the world's premier climbing competition has had plenty of excitement, with several close finishes and an unprecedented tie.
From May 16 to 18, the world's best boulderers will take to the wall to prove their mettle and fight for a place on the coveted IFSC podium. Read on for our preview of what promises to be an epic few days of climbing.
Ones to watch
This year's IFSC World Cup competition has been dominated by youngsters, and you can expect the upcoming round to be no different.
As has been the case for over a year, Japanese prodigy Sorato Anraku is a heavy favorite in the men's event. The 18-year-old burst onto the scene with an unstoppable run in last season's bouldering competition. By the close, he'd amassed a whopping 500 points more than anyone else, to claim his title as the world's best male boulderer.
A powerful performance in the season opener in Shaoxing, China, suggests he has no plans of slowing down, as the teenager stormed to victory with a near-perfect score of 99.7.
If anyone can stop him, it's South Korea's Dohyun Lee. The 22-year-old has enjoyed a promising few years in IFSC competitions and kept Anraku on his toes last year.
He was tantalisingly close to victory in Shaoxing, finishing second with just 0.4 points less than his rival.
Both climbers will hit the wall on Friday morning for the competition's hotly anticipated qualifying round.
American Annie Sanders will be keen to continue her impressive form in the women's competition. The 17-year-old sailed to victory in the season opener with a precise, technical climb.
Sanders came fourth overall in last season's bouldering competition, but finished strong with a decisive gold in the final event in Seoul, South Korea.
Victory in Curitiba would represent her third World Cup bouldering gold in a row, and cement her place among the world's best female boulderers.
Australian Oceana MacKenzie will also fancy her chances. The 22-year-old finished second in the 2024/25 World Cup thanks to a consistent campaign.
Both climbers benefit from the absence of two of the world's best boulderers.
World Cup legend and two-time Olympic champion Janja Garnbret will miss most of this season as she takes time to recover from years of non-stop climbing. She plans to compete in a handful of events later in the year but will not be in Curitiba.
World champion Natalia Grossman is also missing. In March, the American announced that she'd torn her ACL and Meniscus ligaments and will miss a large portion of the World Cup as a result.
While a major blow for the competition, their absences have opened the door for less experienced climbers like Sanders and MacKenzie to take centre stage.
IFSC World Cup Schedule
Qualification
- 5am PT (May 16) / 8am EST (May 16) / 1pm BST (May 16) Men's and women's qualification
Semi-finals and finals
- 6am PT (May 17) / 9am EST (May 17) / 2pm BST (May 17) Men's semi-finals
- 6am PT (May 18) / 9am EST (May 18) / 2pm BST (May 18)Women's semi-finals
- 1.30pm PT (May 17) / 4.30pm EST (May 17) / 9.30pm BST (May 17) Men's final
- 1.30pm PT (May 18) / 4.30pm EST (May 18) / 9.30pm BST (May 18) Women's final
What is the IFSC World Cup?
The IFSC World Cup is a year-long climbing competition that pits the world's best climbers head-to-head in lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering competitions.
It takes place over 14 different World Cup stages, held across the globe and throughout the year.
Points from each competition are tallied up, and climbers are ranked on separate leaderboards for each discipline. These rankings decide the eventual world champions.
How to watch the IFSC World Cup
There are loads of ways to watch the upcoming World Cup competition, with plenty of broadcasters and streaming services providing coverage.
Check out how you can watch where you are with our expert guide.
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