Taking place in Momentum Climbing – Fort Union, 188 registered climbers across 19 sport classes took the first step to a 2026 Para Climbing podium.

Nearly seven hours of qualification whittled the climbers down to the few still in with a shot of a medal in the live finals tomorrow.

‘THE SPORT IS GETTING SOME SERIOUS ATTENTION’

In the men’s RP3 Netherlands’ Jamie Barendrecht started his season is great form leading the sport class in both of the routes to progress to the finals in first place.

Speaking after his qualification Barendrecht said: “I was first in both routes for once, finally. The first route was going well, but then all of a sudden I was really pumped and that surprised me a little bit.

“The second route was more technical and my kind of climbing. When it’s overhang you can get away with just being powerful but face climbing, you have to be a good climber to do well and that’s what I love.”

Talking about coming back after the season break Barendrecht said: “I’m feeling good. I’ve been trying to train consistently. Mentally I tried to take a bit of a break but not physically, and I think it shows. I feel like I’m climbing well.”

The Paralympics will be held in the USA in 2028 when the Para athletes will show what they can do in Los Angeles, including the climbing athletes for the first time. Reflecting on this Barendrecht said: “It’s really cool to see Para Climbing grow and it being taken a bit more seriously. Now it’s in the Paralympics for some categories it has become more of a profession now and it shows people are getting better and want to get involved. It’s good to see the sport get some more serious attention because I love it.”

When asked about his feelings on the finals tomorrow Barendrecht said: “You know what, I’ve been competition climbing since 2021 and the first year I didn’t know where I was at. Then I found out I could be competitive for medals and got this big thing in my head that I wanted to reach finals and win, but I’m happy to say I’ve stopped caring.

“I’m happier now just climbing for myself and doing my best. Climbing has this way to make you self-reflect and work on yourself above anything else.”

There’s plenty of home interest in the finals for the RP sport classes with the likes of Melissa Ruiz and Brayden Butler leading their respective qualifications while world champion Marina Dias from Brazil looking good for another medal.

TEAM JAPAN IN POLE POSITION

From the visually impaired classes, Japan holds top spot in all of the men’s sport classes. Sho Aita was first in B1, Kazuhiro Minowada in B2 and Shingo Kurosawa in B3.

Of the three women’s classes the top spots are shared around the nations a little bit more with Great Britain’s Abigail Robinson top in B2 and France’s Elsa Boutel Menard top in B3.

Japan didn’t totally lose its grip in the women’s classes though as Hiromi Aoki progressed in first in the B1 sport class.

Despite holding first, Aoki wasn’t entirely happy with her round: “I thought it was very difficult today. I want to climb better. I struggled a little bit on the routes. Where I fell I had to move sideways quite a lot, and my body got a bit twisted. I hope I can recover a bit from that.”

Thinking ahead to the final Aoki said: “I just want to climb like I know I can, and most of all enjoy the experience and the final.”

SOME FAMILIAR NAMES

In the AL1 sport class, the men and women climbed together, but it was a very familiar sight at the top of the standings as Austria’s Angelino Zeller was once again the climber to beat.

Other names at the top of the orders on a regular basis are France’s Lucie Jarrige in the women’s AL2 and Germany’s Kevin Bartke in the men’s AU2.

Despite the familiarity in some sport classes, there’s some new kids on the block shaking things up, like 17-year-old WanYing Morningstar who is in her very first competition at this level and leading the way in the women’s AU3.

Check out all the results here

The finals of the World Climbing Para Series from Salt Lake City will be streamed live on the World Climbing YouTube channel starting at 12:00 local time (UTC -6:00).

Set your alarms and watch the finals here: https://youtube.com/live/XcfIOm4i_GE?feature=share

News and updates will be available on the World Climbing website and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.