The world's best climbers have their eyes on the leaderboard as a thrilling climbing World Cup competition hurtles towards its conclusion. This week, the crème de la crème of lead climbers are limbering up to take on the wall in Madrid, Spain, for the penultimate World Cup round.
The men's and women's qualification rounds begin tomorrow, July 18, before the finals take place on Saturday, July 19.
There's lots of action to look forward to, as a superstar climbers like Sorato Anraku, Erin McNeice, and Chaehyun Seo look to battle it out in pursuit of lead climbing gold.
Read on for our preview of the 12th round of this season's climbing World Cup, which includes the schedule, information on how to watch the competition, and who to look out for on the wall.
Ones to watch
Men's lead climbing
Spectators in Madrid will have their eyes firmly fixed on one man in the men's lead competition, as Japan's Sorato Anraku looks to make history by winning a second series victory in as many competitions.
Early this year, the 18-year-old claimed his crown as the world's best male boulderer by winning three of the six bouldering rounds. Gold in Madrid would represent Anraku's third lead climbing win of the season and give him a near-unassailable lead atop the competition table.
Series wins in two out of the three World Cup climbing events would be a historic achievement and cement the teenager's spot as the world's best multi-discipline sport climber.
Despite his stellar form, Anraku can't celebrate too early, as he'll have to get through countrymen Satone Yoshida and Neo Suzuki, and a fired-up Toby Roberts of Great Britain.
Yoshida and Suzuki have won this year's other two lead climbing rounds and closely trail Anraku on the leaderboard, while Olympic champion Roberts has a point to prove following a sluggish start to the competition. Victory for any of the three would dent Anraku's title hopes and keep the competition alive before the final round in September.
Women's lead climbing
This year's women's lead climbing competition has turned into something of a shootout between two otherwise unproven climbers who're gunning for the coveted series gold.
We're four rounds in, and there's little to separate South Korea's Chaehyun Seo and Erin McNeice of Great Britain. They've each won two gold medals and been in and around the podium during the other events.
In an extraordinary opening round, the pair shared gold after both recorded the same scores in the final, semi-final, and qualification rounds. McNeice then sped ahead with a convincing win in the next round, before Seo evened up the tally with a close run victory in last week's World Cup in Chamonix, France.
The rivalry has come as something of a surprise to climbing fanatics, as neither athlete was fancied for the series gold before the competition. Prior to the opening round, Seo hadn't won a World Cup round for over four years, while McNeice's only real success came in the form of Olympic bronze at last summer's Paris games.
The women's bouldering competition looks a little different this year due to the absence of two of the world's best all-around climbers. Natalia Grossman of the USA is recovering from two long-term knee injuries, while two-time Olympic champion Janja Garnbret has missed all but one round as she takes time to rest.
Garnbret returned from her lengthy absence in the third round of this year's lead climbing competition, where she claimed a decisive victory to remind the world of why she's won two Olympic golds and a whopping 47 IFSC World Cup events.
Despite her dominance, Garnbret has opted to continue her break, opening to competition to either Seo or McNeice to claim a first World Cup series win.
IFSC World Cup Schedule
Lead qualification
- 11.30pm PT (July 17) / 2.30am EST (July 18) / 9.30am BST (July 18) Men's and women's qualification
Lead finals
- 11.30am PT (July 18) / 2.30pm EST (July 19) / 9.30pm BST (July 18) Men's and women's semi-finals
- 11.30am PT (July 19) / 2.30pm EST (July 20) / 9.30pm BST (July 19) Men's final
- 12.30pm PT (July 19) / 3.30pm EST (July 20) / 10.30pm BST (July 19) 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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