Garnbret takes Innsbruck World Cup Lead Gold: GBs Roberts and McNeice podium

• Monday 30th June 2025

All smiles in Austria as Janja Garnbret takes the IFSC World Cup Lead gold and the Innsbruck double (again), whilst both GBs Toby Roberts and Erin McNeice podiumed with silver and bronze respectively. 

Last night’s (Sunday, 29th June) Lead finals wrapped up an incredible Innsbruck competition. In what was in effect the precursor event for the World Championships in Seoul in late September, those athletes interested in the 'Combined' now have a measure of where they – and their competition form – are at. With close to three months to go before Seoul, it’s a fair bet that heads will be being scratched and training programmes refined.

The undisputed star of Innsbruck was, however, Janja Garnbret; once again, she took the so-called 'double' gold, winning the Lead event to add to her earlier gold in the Boulder. Respectively, they were her 47th and 48th World Cup gold medals; not for nothing is she referred to as the G.O.A.T.!

Collectively, GB Climbing athletes were out in strength at Innsbruck. Leading the charge were Toby Roberts, who added a Lead silver to his Boulder gold (read about that here), and Erin McNeice will bring home a Lead bronze.

Women’s Lead

From the get-go, Janja Garnbret stamped her authority on the women’s Lead event. A six-way tie for second place included Laura Rogora, Erin McNeice and Annie Sanders. The semi-final result mirrored the qualification round; Garnbret was in top spot, and a three-way tie with Rogora, McNeice and Sanders followed for second place.

As well as creating a visually striking final route, the setters also added a testing swing that even slowed down Janja for a while. Once beyond that move, she pulled significantly ahead of the rest of the field, and although she didn’t top out, she finished the final with an eight-move margin. In her best performance of the year, Laura Rogora progressed to hold 33, which was enough for second place and silver. Erin McNeice, maintaining her consistency across the rounds, was very close behind Rogora; after an impressive “save” on the swing move, Erin finally fell at 32+ to secure bronze – her third Lead medal of the year after previously winning two golds.

Speaking afterwards, Janja summed up her time in Innsbruck: “I’m really tired, after three days of climbing. It was exhausting, but at the same time, I’m so happy I climbed like I wanted to. The route was so fun, so nice, there was a little bit of hesitation on the swing, but I think it was because I didn’t know if I could reach or not. I know the crowd was worried a little bit, I was not. I love Innsbruck, that’s why I chose this competition for my return after the Olympic year, the crowd is fantastic, they give you fuel, they give you energy to climb, I just love it. And I hope Innsbruck loves me too.”

Women’s Final Lead Results

Men’s Lead

Despite being the only one to top out in the qualification round, Neo Suzuki was forced down into second place by the Tokyo Olympic Champion, Alberto Gines Lopez. In a tight scoring round, Sorato Anraku finished in third place. Looking to add further metalwork to his Boulder gold, Toby qualified in 9th.

Whilst Neo Suzuki provided the only top out of the semi-final route, Toby Roberts and Jesse Grupper were literally breathing down his neck but failed to secure the final hold! Gines Lopez was forced down into 5th place.

The final turned out to be another incredibly close round with no fewer than five climbers – Neo Suzuki, Tobey Roberts, Alberto Gines Lopez, Satone Yoshida and Yannick Flohe – all topping the route. On countback, Neo Suzuki therefore took the gold – his first ever – forcing Toby Roberts to settle for 2nd and silver on what was his seventh Lead podium. Alberto Gines Lopez took 3rd and bronze, his third of the season.

Commenting afterwards, Neo Suzuki said: “I’m very happy with my first gold medal. I believe the route was a bit easy, but I found it difficult in the middle section, that's when I felt tired. Innsbruck is an awesome venue, and there were so many people supporting me. My season is going very well, and I would like to win the overall title.”

Men’s Final Lead Results