The IFSC Boulder World Cup returns to the Czechia capital Prague this weekend on the final stop before the 2024 season ending finale in South Korea in early October.

With series titles still up for grabs, Prague is the last chance to earn some valuable points towards the season totals as well as picking up a coveted World Cup medal and takes place 20-22 September.  

The winners of last year’s IFSC Boulder World Cup Series, USA’s Natalia Grossman and Japan’s Anraku Sorato, will both be in Prague with Anraku also attending with some Olympic hardware after winning silver at Paris 2024.

There will be a full podium’s worth of Olympic medals on show with Paris 2024 gold medallist Toby Roberts of Great Britain and Austria’s bronze medal winning Jessica Pilz in action.

Some more Olympians competing are Australia’s Oceania Mackenzie and Great Britain’s Erin McNeice in the women’s competition and Anraku’s teammate Narasaki Tomoa, Belgium’s Hannes Van Duysen and, of course, the home nation’s favourite, Adam Ondra.

Ondra’s teammate Jan Stipek is back from the Youth Worlds duty to the senior stage and is excited for the homecoming event: “I am really looking forward to the competition in Prague because it is my home country, and I know from last year that the atmosphere is incredible.”

With the season moving towards its conclusion, Stipek reflected on his 2024 saying: “My season has been pretty good this year. I’ve won a couple of youth European comps, and I’ve already started competing in the senior World Cups. Innsbruck was my first comp of this format, and I finished 23rd there.”

On his competition goals Stipek said: “In Prague I would like to get to the semi-finals, and I would really like to get in the top ten.”

Boasting a strong lineup is the French team. At the recent European Championships in Villars, Switzerland, both Sam Avezou and Naïlé Meignan took the Boulder titles, and they are joined by Olympians Paul Jenft and Zélia Avezou as well as Mejdi Schalck and Manuel Cornu.

A French climber who is looking forward to a Prague return is last year’s bronze medallist Flavy Cohaut.

“I have so many memories from Prague,” said Cohaut. “Last year was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to be back there.”

Talking about her year Cohaut said: “My season hasn’t gone as I wanted. I got injured at the beginning and I only took part in two World Cups. There were some little mistakes I made which meant I didn’t get the results I was expecting.

“I took some holidays during this summer, but training is going well, and I look forward to giving it my all for the last stage of my season.”

At the last boulder World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, Germany’s Elias Arriagada Krüger and Thailand’s Ardch Intrachupongse had personal best finishes with Arriagada Krüger making his first final and finishing fifth overall and Intrachupongse just missing out on the final in seventh. Both will be looking to continue that Boulder form in Prague.

Picking up the Slovenian baton will be Jennifer Eucharia Buckley who is the newest Youth Worlds champion after taking the top step in both the Boulder and the Lead disciplines in Guiyang, China last month.

Many climbers and spectators will be heading to Prague for their very first time, and although they may know what the competition will have in store, Stipek offers some quick advice to anyone with some downtime in his homeland: “For anyone who has never been to Prague should go and see all the interesting places that the city has to offer, for example the Charles Bridge or the Astronomical Clock.”

The event starts on 20 September with qualification for men at 09:00 (UTC+2:00) and women at 16:00.