Climbing · Worth knowing

France's Oriane Bertone leads the women's boulder final at the World Climbing Series in Salt Lake City 2026 with 99.5 points, the only competitor to top all four semifinal boulders. Three climbers remain in contention for the series title: Britain's Erin McNeice (75.0pts), Australia's Oce Mackenzie (74.7pts), and USA's Annie Sanders (84.0pts). The final boulder proved exceptionally difficult, with boulder four remaining unseated by most climbers until the later rounds, where only Bertone, Melody Sekikawa, Yuetong Zhang, and María José Estrada managed tops. Mexico's Estrada, at 18 years old, made history as the first Mexican woman to reach a World Climbing Series semifinal, finishing 22nd and demonstrating emerging talent in the sport.

Sorato Anraku dominated the 2026 World Climbing Series bouldering season with an unprecedented five consecutive gold medals across six stops held in Keqiao, Bern, Madrid, Prague, Innsbruck, and Salt Lake City from May to October. Anraku finished with 5,049 points, significantly ahead of second-place Lee Dohyun with 3,095 points, establishing himself as the season's standout performer by topping all four boulders in multiple finals and persisting through difficult climbs like his 11-attempt success on boulder two in Innsbruck. On the women's side, British climber Erin McNeice led with 3,740 points, winning multiple golds including victories where she topped all four final boulders, while emerging talents like Oceana Mackenzie of Australia claimed her first World Climbing Series gold in Bern and Annie Sanders won three boulder golds, demonstrating depth in elite women's bouldering competition.