At the World Climbing Series Prague, Zélia Avezou won her first Lead medal at the world level, and she is hoping it can help push her all the way through to LA28 in both disciplines
The 2026 season has been one of ‘firsts’ for Avezou. Taking on both Boulder and Lead, the French climber has stepped onto the World Climbing Series podium in the two disciplines, and although she has a previous Boulder medal, she still had another first she could tick off:
“This season started really well. I won my first gold medal in Boulder and my first medal in Lead. It’s also the first time I’ve reached the World Climbing Series podium twice in the same year.”
With three of the core climbing disciplines all offering Olympic medals at LA28, some climbers are targeting two competitions, and Avezou is one of those:
“I love both Lead and Boulder, which is why I’m hoping to keep competing in both disciplines for LA28. I know it’s a big challenge, but for now, the joy it brings me makes it worth pursuing. I’ll see how it goes and follow my instincts.”
Reflecting on her first time on a Lead podium, Avezou said: “Winning a medal in a Lead event was one of my goals this year. In this discipline surprises are less likely to happen, and I knew it would be difficult considering the level of the other athletes.
“I’m proud that I seized the opportunity, especially since I felt exhausted after the intense week in Prague.”
Prague offered both a chance at a Boulder and a Lead podium, and Innsbruck also does, and has done for some time with a discipline double-header. Despite being on the circuit for a few years now, it will be the first time since 2023 she will do Lead at the Kletterzentrum:
“In 2024 I skipped it because of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest. In 2025, the schedule was demanding, and I didn’t feel I had the endurance to compete in two events back-to-back.
“This year I’m excited to compete in Lead again, mostly because I want to,” she says with a laugh. “It’s also a great way to train my ability to reset quickly from one competition to the next.”
Like a lot of climbers in Innsbruck, resetting will be one of the keys to success, both from a double discipline event in Prague and in the midst of another in Austria. For Avezou, the goals for both remain the same:
“In Prague my goal was to reach the finals in both disciplines. I want to do the same in Innsbruck. I want to enjoy as many rounds as possible while continuing to learn and improve from my past experiences.”
Fresh off a double gold in Prague and already going home with at least one gold after winning the women’s Boulder in Innsbruck, USA’s Annie Sanders is climbing with confidence right now and you wouldn’t bet against her pushing for another podium.
South Korea’s Chaehyun Seo is also taking on the Innsbruck Lead wall meaning all of the women’s podium in Prague will be looking for two medals in a row.
It’s the same with the men as Indonesia’s Putra Tri Ramadani – who won his first ever gold in Prague, Japan’s Neo Suzuki and Austria’s own Jakob Schubert are set to compete.
Alongside Schubert hoping to take some inspiration from her home crowd, Jessica Pilz will compete in the women’s competition while long term friend and rival of Schubert, Czechia’s Adam Ondra, is also on the start list.
There are also Olympic champions to keep an eye out for as Spain’s Alberto Ginés López will look to get back on track after missing the final in Prague. He podiumed in Wujiang at the start of the season continuing his streak of making the podium at every event last season.
Last but by no means least, Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret returns to action in the place where she has had a lot of success before – although she has had a lot of success everywhere – in search of her 50th gold medal at the World Climbing level.
Garnbret has been climbing outside becoming the first woman to climb Bibliographie, a 9b+ route, in Céüse, France and skipped the Boulder competition. Everyone will be watching with interest to see if she can reach the half-century of golds.
Lead begins with qualification and semi-finals for both men and women on Saturday 20 June before the finals brings the World Climbing Series Innsbruck 2026 to a close on Sunday 21 June evening.
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.
