Chi and Uznik lead shock in Salt Lake

Out of the 78 men that started the competition in Salt Lake City, USA, and the 24 that made in through into the semi-final, there was one name that stuck out – and not because he made it, but because surprisingly he didn’t.

Japan’s Sorato Anraku was on for an unprecedented six wins from six World Climbing Series events in the same season, but that dream came to an end as he finished in 29^th overall in the qualification round.

That exit from the competition means that there will be a new name on the 2026 Boulder gold medal list, and USA’s Auggie Chi and Austria’s Nicolai Uznik are the early frontrunners sharing the top spot. 

Split into two, Chi and Uznik led their respective groups for a share of the Salt Lake City lead going into the semi-final stage. Chi had 109.9pts and Uznik had 95pts.

Max Bertone was the early leader with 109.3pts, but Chi came out to drop the Frenchman down a place into third alongside Japan’s next hope, Rei Kawamata who had 94.9pts.

From this point down the scores started to bunch up in both groups with fifth placed Mejdi Schalck of France and Great Britain’s Max Milne posting similar scores despite being in different groups – Schalck had 94.9pts, Milne 94.8pts.

"GOOD ROUNDS" ALL ROUND

In seventh there were four climbers with both groups unable to split their athletes. USA’s Colin Duffy and Great Britain’s Toby Roberts scored 94.7pts in their group and Italy’s Luca Boldrini and Japan’s Sohta Amagasa scored 94.6pts in theirs.

Speaking after his round home nation climber Duffy said: “It was a good round. I enjoyed the boulders and the atmosphere here at a home event for me a lot. Two of the boulders in the round were super hard so you had to be very efficient in the rest of the round, which I think I accomplished.”

Reflecting on his season Duffy said: “I think it's been my best season in Boulder since I've been on the circuit and it's very exciting to finish it here in the US.”

The Salt Lake City event has been on the calendar for a few seasons now, but the venue has moved this year to the city’s baseball stadium, and Duffy is a fan of the move: “I think this is a step up from where we've had previous events here in Salt Lake City. Bringing climbing to a bigger stadium with this atmosphere is the future. I hope the fans are sitting comfortably and enjoying the climbing here.”

Duffy has featured in many semi-finals, finals, and even has medals to show for his exploits, but Boldrini is a relative newcomer to the semi-final stage and will feature in just his third.

Talking about his qualification the Italian said: “It was pretty crazy because I had quite a good round. I didn't expect this result, for me it's crazy, so I'll enjoy it. I’m happy.”

In just his third semi-final appearance, Boldrini isn’t putting too much pressure on himself in the next phase of competition: “I think I just have to go at it and not think about the result. I hope I get more boulders like number three in quali, some campus moves and jumps, I’m a dynamic guy.”

Other climbers making it through are former finalists such as France’s Sam Avezou and Austria’s Jan-Luca Posch, with China’s Yufei Pan hoping he can make the same sort of impact that saw him get a gold in Bern last year.

The two climbers sharing the final spots for progression are Israel’s Adi Bark and Canada’s Matthew Rodriguez in join 23^rd position.

RESULTS

Men's Boulder: https://wclmb.hopp.to/slc26mbr

NEXT UP

The women will start their competition with qualification later today. The men will have their semi-final and final tomorrow with the women closing the competition, and Boulder series, with their semi-final and final on Sunday. 

News and updates about the World Climbing Series Salt Lake City 2026 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, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.