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The third speed climbing World Cup of the season came to an abrupt end over the weekend after strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning forced climbers off the wall in Denver, USA.
Without a finals round, the competition winners were decided by their standings in qualification, and two unexpected winners were crowned. Read on for our round-up of all the action.
Not sure how it works? Jump to the bottom of this article for a handy IFSC World Cup explainer.
Women's competition
Emma Hunt won her second-ever World Cup gold in Denver with a pacy performance in qualification. The 22-year-old clearly didn't feel the pressure of competing on home soil and raced up the outdoor wall in an impressive 6.36 seconds in qualification.
Her time was the fastest of anyone in the women's competition and proved enough to secure the gold.
She was trailed in second and third place by Natalia Kalucka of Poland and China's Lijuan Deng.
Kalucka, 22, is a one-time World Cup winner with several impressive showings under her belt already this season, while Deng leads the competition, thanks to some consistent performances and speedy climbs.
Both notched impressive times in Denver, but weren't able to pip the young Hunt, who described her victory as "good but a little weird".
"It’s weird because I only did three races to get the medal. I would have loved to have done all the races but that’s the weather," she told the IFSC.
“It was super cool to have had the chance to do a few laps in front of a home crowd, and I hope we can come back to Denver.”
Her victory comes as something of a surprise to speed climbing fanatics. Although she's shown promise, Hunt hasn't made a podium since her first World Cup gold over a year ago. The well-deserved gold bumps her to seventh in the 2025/26 rankings.
Men's competition
Like Hunt, Indonesia's Kiromal Katibin won his second-ever World Cup gold over the weekend. The 24-year-old pipped USA's Zach Hammer and Sam Watson with a rapid time of 4.83 seconds, just 0.5 seconds less than Hammer in second.
Third-placed Watson was a heavy favorite coming into the competition. The 19-year-old stormed to victory in last season's World Cup and won the previous round in Bali with a decisive series of climbs.
His defeat to Katibin follows a strong start to the season for the Indonesian, who won bronze in Bali with a quick and aggressive performance.
After the victory, he told the IFSC: "I feel good, this is only my second World Cup gold, so I am happy.
"I am feeling good and I believe in my training, so I want to continue to get strong and stay strong in my racing.”
The silver medal was the first podium finish of 19-year-old Zach Hammer's career. The American youngster made his speed climbing debut in 2022 and has slowly climbed the rankings in the years since.
After claiming the silver, Hammer told the IFSC: "It feels amazing. I wouldn’t say unexpected because I have been working really hard for it, and I was confident I could do it, but to have the medal finally around my neck is an amazing feeling.
"When I walked out onto the stage for finals, I honestly don’t think I have had a larger crowd cheering for me at any competition, so that really lit a fire in me.”
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 across 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.
What's next?
The next IFSC World Cup event kicks off on June 6 and pits the world's best boulderers against each other in a tough series of boulder problems in Prague, Czechia.
Among the competitors will be 18-year-old prodigy Sorato Anraku, who's aiming to secure his fourth successive bouldering gold medal and fifth win of the season after only two months of competition.
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