Janja Garnbret’s favourite colour must be gold she sees so much of it. And the Slovenian climber is seeing a little more tonight taking the IFSC Boulder World Cup Keqiao 2024 win.

The oldest and most experienced climber in the final six, that experience was clear from the outset as her five final rivals either couldn’t make the zone or took multiple attempts for a top on boulder one.

Garnbret entered the stage. Flashed the boulder. And left with a wave to the crowd.

The crowd inside the Shaoxing Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center in Keqiao, China - a full house at around 1000 people - saw the Olympic champion continue that form to top all four boulders with three flashes. Her only hiccup, two attempts on boulder three when she slipped on the slab.

Garnbret said: “I feel really happy. Of course, after winning you always feel happy but I’m also excited to be back in China after five years. The last time I competed here was in 2019 in Wujiang so it’s good to be back.

“It’s the first World Cup of the season and you are always a little bit nervous because although I have been training hard over the winter you don’t really know what your competitors have been doing. I knew I was strong and I felt good, but you never know in a competition.”

Winning her first Boulder World Cup medal was Italy’s Camila Moroni who topped two of the finals boulders for silver. Moroni was the first out to try the problems after coming through the semi-final in sixth position. That meant the Italian had to sit and wait as she missed the zone on the final problem and had to wait and see what her rivals could do.

Apart from Garnbret, no climber reached the zone, and that meant Moroni had secured her first medal surpassing her previous best of fifth from Seoul, South Korea, in 2022.

Moroni said: “I was satisfied with my competition and my climbing, but I didn’t expect this result as it’s the first one of the year and you don’t know how strong the other athletes are. It’s my first time in China, for now I like it as I think it’s lucky for me because it’s my first World Cup medal. I like the venue and also the people.”

The home crowd had something to cheer throughout the final, and onto the podium as well as Luo Zhilu matched her personal best with a third-place finish, also with two tops, but more attempts than second placed Moroni.

Luo said: “I’m satisfied with my performance. It’s been over a year since my last bronze medal so I am really excited about this. The result is above my expectation. I have made some changes to my training and now I feel more confident and really happy about this result.”

France’s Zelia Avezou and Great Britain’s Erin McNeice both made it to their first Boulder World Cup final, ensuring personal best results. Avezou finished fourth topping one boulder and McNeice finished fifth, also with one top.

Matsufuji Anon of Japan was the other finalist finishing in sixth with one topped boulder.

Women's results can be found here: Final, Semi-final, Qualification