New season. New rules. New semi-final names.
A new IFSC Boulder World Cup season brings with it new rules and quotas, and also new names to the women’s semi-final list.
Kicking off in Keqiao, China at the Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center, 58 women took on the Boulder qualification where a new scoring system and athlete final quota takes its maiden outing. Read more about the new rules here.
With points totals now the decider, as opposed to the Top and Zone system, eight women will make the Boulder final in Keqiao – two more than previous years. But first, they have to make it out of qualification and into the semi-final.
One of those women will be Australia’s Maya Stasiuk who not only makes her first semi-final, but does so top of her group with 84.6pts.
“I’m very surprised,” said Stasiuk, “it’s my first semi-final. I started climbing at World Cups in 2023 and I’ve only come close to semi-finals once, so I’m stoked – very, very happy.”
Sitting first in her group, the expectation may be for Stasiuk to continue the form and make a first final also, but in typical Australian fashion, she is a bit more relaxed about things: “I just want to have fun. I don’t have many expectations. I just enjoyed the round so much and I am excited for the semi- finals.”
Joining Stasiuk in the semi-final will be teammate and two-time Olympian Oce Mackenzie who is joint-fourth overall on 84.5pts.
Talking about her compatriot Stasiuk said: “Oce is so incredible, and I look up to her so much. She has been doing so well for so many years, to climb and compete with her as a friend on the same team is incredible.”
Top of the overall standings and joint top of the second group of climbers is France’s Oriane Bertone and Japan’s Sekikawa Melody on 84.8pts.
After her round Bertone said: “It was kind of a hard round as the first three boulders a lot of people did them, then the final ones the attempts were very important. I was happy about my first three but the last ones, I could have made them work, just not in the five minutes. That’s boulder climbing I guess. I would love to go back and try them again, but that’s not possible.”
Following the latest LA28 news about the three disciplines each having their own medals (read more here), there has been much talk about athletes focussing on just one discipline, and Bertone has made her decision: “I don’t think I will be in the Lead comps this year, and maybe for a while probably. I will do Lead more for training but for comp climbing I feel it’s hard to manage both. I will probably go towards Boulder.”
With a new year comes a new attitude from Bertone, and we hope to see her beaming smile a lot more in 2025: “It’s about getting back and having fun on the wall. During the [Olympic] Games and the years before I was focusing on one goal, just like a bunch of people, but I want to find some joy in just climbing and enjoying myself in comps again.”
Even have fun though, there is still some serious business to take care off, like an IFSC Boulder World Cup Series title: “Everyone is going to fight for the Boulder title. I want to go back home and know that I gave my all. Winning will follow good climbing.”
Bertone is off to a good start, and so is teammate Agathe Calliet who makes the semi-final.
The Japanese team are once again showing their strength with all six climbers through – including Nonaka Miho and Nakamura Mao.
Olympian Zhang Yuetong is the host nation hope in the semi-final going through with 84pts and in seventh place alongside Calliet and IFSC World Cup Seoul medallist Erin McNeice from Great Britain.
On the podium in Seoul with McNeice was USA’s Annie Sanders. She won gold in South Korea and is once again targeting a World Cup medal by progressing through qualification.
While there is usually 24 semi-final places, due to Great Britain’s Zoe Peetermans and Germany’s Roxana Wienand both scoring 59.7pts in their group there will be 25. Wienand’s German teammate Anna Maria Apel also goes through in the final position in her group with all three in joint 23rd place.
Full results can be found here
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