Seo and Anraku take gold at Chamonix: McNeice podiums (again) with bronze
- Tuesday 15th July 2025
Chaehyun Seo and Sorato Anraku took the top spots in the Chamonix Lead World Cup over the weekend whilst Erin McNeice podiumed with a bronze.
Ironically, for both Chaehyun Seo and Sorata Anraku taking the top spot in Chamonix gave them both their sixth gold Lead medals of their careers.
The iconic Chamonix Lead World Cup; the fourth Lead event of the 2025 session, delivered some great action as usual; plenty of switching of positions in the various rounds and even some thin finger crack with ring locks in the men’s as well as some funky “see through” holds.
Toby Roberts came out blazing in the men’s qualification round with two very strong tops; his friend and rival Sorato Anraku finished in second place with one top and a near-top. Tokyo Olympic Champion Alberto Gines Lopez who is still looking for his first World Cup Lead gold medal took the top spot in the semi’s and whilst Sorata Anraku maintained his second position Toby in a rare moment of “lost concentration” fell low-down and didn’t qualify for the finals.
Standings switched again for the finals with Sorato stepping up his game with the only top; Alberto Gines Lopez and Flilip Schenik, separated on countback, took silver and bronze respectively.
Anne Sanders posted another strong performance in the women’s qualification topping both routes; Laura Rogora and Rosa Rekar both topped R2 coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Other strong performers Chaehyun Seo, Brook Raboutou and Erin McNiece came in somewhat uncharacteristically lower down the standings in 4th, 5th and joint 9th respectively. Annie Sanders topped the semi-final route as well and Erin McNeice and Chaehyun Seo restored their standings ending in 2nd and 3rd.
Taking her second gold of the season Chaehyun Seo took the win in the close-run final; Annie Sanders and Erin McNeice came in with silver and bronze respectively each finishing just one hold down on the higher placed climber. Competing in her first comp for some consideable time Olympic silver medallist Brooke Raboutou, ended in fourth place falling a little short of those taking podium positions.
Continuing her trade-mark consistency Erin McNeice’s bronze in Chamonix is her fourth Lead medal of the season; her two golds and two bronzes means that she has not only podiumed in ever Lead WC of the year but that she’s maintaining her top spot in the World Cup Lead rankings ahead of Chaehyun Seo and Laura Rogora with just two Lead competitions remaining.
Speaking after the competition McNeice commented on the effort required tomaintain this leavel of consistencey: “I’m happy. Usually the top three are always quite close and it’s a tough battle to win, but I had a lot of fun and I think I climbed well.” Over in the men’s World Cup Lead rankings, Alberto Gines Lopez leads the way with Satone Yoshida and Sorato Anraku following.
Attention shifts to Madrid this coming weekend for another Lead World Cup after which the athletes get a bit of a break before the final Lead World Cup in Koper in September. One of the biggest event of the year, the World Championships in Seoul in late September, will wrap-up many athletes seasons.