There will be some of the usual suspects in the men’s final later today and some new names to add to the final start-list, and neither did it the easy way.

The top two has a familiar look with Japan’s Sorato Anraku on the hunt for gold number four in a row with France’s Mejdi Schalck just behind.

Up until Schalck came onto the mats no one could unlock boulder one, but the Frenchman did it on three attempts to set himself up perfectly in what was a fairly low scoring round. He could only top one more boulder, number two, after that, but with two more zones his score of 68.8pts was more than enough to progress.

Anraku also took three attempts at boulder one, but didn’t even make the zone on two. But one thing you don’t worry about with Anraku is how that will effect the rest of his round. He went on to top the last two boulders for the most tops by a climber and a score of 74.6pts.

With the two established names sitting one-two, the climbers in third and fourth will contest their first Boulder final after one top and three zones.

France’s Max Bertone was third with 53.4pts. Germany’s Lucas Trandafir was fourth with 52.6pts. Both topped boulder two.

Bertone is (or we should say was now) known more as a Lead climber, but the young Frenchman doesn’t see it that way anymore: “I’m the French Boulder champion this season so I knew I had the potential as I have trained a lot in Boulder recently, and not so much in Lead, and I think that has paid off. But I am really surprised in myself that I was capable of doing World [Climbing] Series boulders.”

Bertone is also known for his excitement and exuberance on the wall, and he let it out during his time on the mats: “You see people not coming back quickly so you know it is a hard round. I saw Lucas [Trandafir] next to me on the mat celebrating after making the zone like he made the final so I said to myself, if I do the zone also I will make the final. I did, and I heard my sister screaming and I just knew. That’s when I exploded.”

While Bertone exploded, Trandafir physically couldn’t despite being excited: “I gave everything. Right now everything hurts. I gave it my max effort.”

Talking about his celebration after the zone that Bertone spoke about, Trandafir said*: “I watched my team and they celebrated. I kind of looked at them and asked and they said yes. It’s my first final.”*

So much was the exhaustion for Trandafir he said he didn’t even have the energy to enjoy what he had done with a final coming up in a few hours: “As soon as I get back to the hotel I will fall asleep I think.”

In fifth, Great Britain’s Max Milne had a slow start missing the zone in the first boulder before taking two zones. He topped the final boulder which gave him a score of 44.6pts and a place in the final.

Austria’s Jan-Luca Posch also made a top and two zones for a score of 44.2pts and sixth place. His top was on boulder two.

Showing exactly how tight the scores were, when South Korea’s Dohyun Lee stepped onto the mat for his fourth and final boulder he was in 20th position. A flash later and he was up to seventh and into the final with a score of 43.6pts.

While others made a top, but missed zones somewhere in their round, France’s Sam Avezou could be forgiven for thinking he had missed an opportunity as he came so close to topping many of the semi-final boulders.

Despite not making one, he was consistant enough scoring four zones for a total of 38.3pts, although coming out early in the round he had a long wait for his final place confirmation.

Avezou and all the other finalists will go again tonight in Prague for a shot at the podium.

RESULTS

Men's Boulder: https://wclmb.hopp.to/pra26mbr

THE PROGRAMME

The World Climbing Series Prague 2026 will kick off with two days of qualifications: men’s Boulder on Wednesday, 3 June at 9:00 (UTC+2:00), followed by women’s Boulder at 16:00. Lead qualifications will take place on Thursday, 4 June at 10:00.

Semi-finals and finals will liven up the weekend, with men’s Boulder awarding its medals on Friday, 5 June, women’s Boulder on Saturday, and Lead semi-finals and finals closing the event on Sunday, 7 June.

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