The Australian climber placed second in the women’s Boulder semi-final round behind Natalia Grossman of the USA, and is once again four climbs away from her first-ever World Cup medal.
The third and final competition day at the IFSC World Cup Prague 2024 is going to close with six women competing for the fourth Boulder podium of this year’s Series.
Among them is Australian 22-year-old Oceania Mackenzie, who finished in second place with two tops and three zones at the end of a convincing performance: “The first boulder was definitely my style, I really enjoyed it, and the second one had a jump that was tricky to figure out, but I got it. The friction felt really bad on the last two ones, I got the closest on my last try on the third problem, but it didn’t work and I just got the zone. Last boulder? No idea! It was very unsatisfying!”
The only climber able to top W4 was USA’s Natalia Grossman, who eventually placed first with three tops and four zones. All the other semi-finalists were not able to even secure the zone. Grossman, the winner of this year’s Boulder gold medal in Salt Lake City, USA, is also one of the contenders of the Boulder World Cup season title.
For the women’s Boulder World Cup provisional ranking click here.
“I feel a bit mixed at the moment. I’m becoming more consistent, and feeling happy coming to all World Cups, which is a really important thing for me. But I’ve actually had a few injuries that are not making me feel my best on the wall, which is a bit frustrating. But overall I’m enjoying comps, and with comps I’m enjoying good performances,” continued Mackenzie.
“I couldn’t pass the World Cup in Prague because last year I had so much fun, the crowd is incredible, the city is beautiful. Same for [South] Korea and Salt Lake City, one of my favourite cities. I was tossing up if I should do Lead and Boulder, and I love them both so much that I just couldn’t decide not to!”
It will be the third final for Mackenzie this season: “Making fourth place in Salt Lake City in Boulder, and then again fourth in Koper in Lead, makes me more motivated to try and get my first podium. It’s not a good or a bad thing, I just have a lot of exciting things to come, I hope!”
Also placing in the top six in the semi-final were France’s Naïlé Maignan and Zelia Avezou – respectively third with two tops and three zones, and fourth with one and three – and Japan’s Nakamura Mao and Matsufuji Anon – both with one top and three zones.
For the women’s Boulder semi-final complete results click here.
The ninth and final World Cup event of the season will take place in Seoul, South Korea, from 2 to 6 October. For the first time in IFSC history, the Boulder, Lead, and Speed trophies will be awarded at the same event. Speed qualifications, along with all semi-finals and finals will be live streamed on the IFSC YouTube channel, with geographical restrictions applied.
News and updates about all IFSC events will be available on the IFSC website, and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin and Weibo.
