CLIMBING’S NEXT GENERATION READY FOR YOUTH WORLDS ACTION

17 August 2023

As the dust settles on the IFSC Climbing World Championships Bern 2023, the next generation are raring to go and put their name in lights in Seoul, South Korea, at the 2023 IFSC Climbing Youth World Championships.

There are 596 athletes - 323 male, 273 female – from 45 countries who have made the trip to East Asia to take on Boulder, Lead and Speed and become the next ‘ones to watch’ for the future of Sport Climbing.

The climbers will compete in the Under 20, Under 18 and Under 16 categories across all three disciplines, so there are plenty of medals up for grabs at the Seoul Mountain Climbing & Culture Center.

Some of the medallists from last year have returned including Belgium’s Hannes Van Duysen – who took his country’s first men’s World Cup medal in Hachioji, Japan, at the start of the year – Slovenia’s Sara Copar, Italy’s Marco Rontini and France’s Max Bertone. All will once again aim to return to Europe with some silverware.

South Korea’s Kim Chaeyeong won a gold medal in 2022 and she returns in a team of 37 for the home nation. Neighbouring Japan won an impressive 19 medals in the last edition, including Kayotani Ritsu who beat both Anraku and Roberts to Boulder gold, and they come back with a team of 33 looking to once again show their climbing strength and depth.

Julian David of New Zealand is the current men’s Oceania Speed record holder, and he will be hoping that magic can lift him onto a Youth Worlds podium. Australia’s Maya Stasiak, although only 15-years-old, has World Cup experience under her belt she can use for her podium push.

South Africa have brought a team of 19 climbers to Seoul. Alejo Suter is the sole participant from Argentina. There will be six representatives from Mongolia. The 2023 IFSC Climbing Youth World Championships is a diverse and far-reaching premier youth event.

A rite of passage for many within the sport, big names like Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret and Austria’s Jakob Schubert have stood atop the Youth Worlds podium and gone on to achieve the same feat numerous times in the senior ranks.

Just last year in Dallas, USA, Japan’s Anraku Sorato, Great Britain’s Toby Roberts, USA’s Anastasia Sanders and France’s Zelia Avezou were among the Youth Worlds medallists and showed their class in the 2023 senior competitions with finals appearances, IFSC World Cup medals, and even the Boulder series title in the case of Anraku.

Whilst all four are still eligible to compete, they are taking a break after an intense year of competition that culminated in World Championships finals last week meaning there is guaranteed to be some new names on the 2023 podiums.

You can watch the semi-finals and finals of all the disciplines, and all the age categories, on the IFSC YouTube channel starting with women’s and men’s Lead semi-finals Under 16 on Saturday 19 August at 19:00 (UTC+9:00).

Before that, qualification begins for men’s and women’s Under 18 Lead and men’s Under 16 Lead on 18 August at 09:00.