Seoul 2025: World Championships conclude a record-breaking season

The 2025 IFSC World Championships in Seoul delivered remarkably similar narratives in both finals: French climbers Oriane Bertone and Mejdi Schalck held gold positions going into the final boulder, only to see Janja Garnbret and Sorato Anraku complete the decisive problem where they could not.

Finals decided by millimeters

Women: Garnbret’s precision under pressure

Bertone entered the final boulder with an advantage on attempts. Her first attempt saw her reach the final hold but fail to control it; the second attempt produced the same result. Garnbret’s successful completion of that boulder secured her 10th world championship gold medal with 99.5 points.

This marked only Garnbret’s second competition of 2025 (after Innsbruck), yet she won both. Her final season ELO of 2893 from minimal participation raises questions about the relationship between competition frequency and performance maintenance at the elite level.

Men: Anraku survives uncharacteristic struggle

The men’s final followed a parallel script. Schalck led after three boulders (having flashed the first), needing only to complete the fourth for gold. He reached the zone but couldn’t secure the top. Anraku, tied with Dohyun Lee on points, needed the top to win—and delivered on his second attempt for 99.2 points.

Anraku’s subdued reaction suggested relief rather than celebration. His failure to make the lead final earlier in the week had introduced unexpected pressure for an athlete who had dominated the World Cup circuit.

Beyond the gold medals

Dohyun Lee claimed bronze in boulder (84.2 points) but more significantly won gold in lead. This dual-discipline success better reflects his season-long consistency (final ELO: 2913, moving to 2nd in world rankings). His spectacular semifinal performances throughout 2025—including the 99.8-point display in Bern—finally translated to appropriate recognition.

Melina Costanza’s bronze represents the competition’s biggest surprise. Ranked outside the top 20 entering Seoul, the American’s first major international medal ahead of established teammates Annie Sanders and Erin McNeice demonstrates the narrowing gap between tiers of elite climbers.

Tomoa and Meichi Narasaki finished 4th and 5th respectively, underlining Japan’s depth issues discussed throughout the season—world-class athletes competing against each other for limited team positions.

Statistical milestones and systemic patterns

Final 2025 ELO ratings:

  • Anraku: 3068 - First male climber above 3000 (previous record: Narasaki T., 2964 in 2019)
  • Garnbret: 2893 - Maintained from just two competitions
  • Lee: 2913 - Fourth-highest men’s season historically
  • Schalck: 2785 - Remarkable recovery from 2024’s sub-top-10 finish

Participation patterns post-Olympics:

The data reveals clear strategic choices in the post-Olympic year:

  • Minimal participation from established champions (Garnbret: 2 events, Roberts: late-season only)
  • Complete absence from some medalists (Raboutou pursuing outdoor projects, Grossman rehabilitating)
  • Opportunity creation for emerging athletes (Sekikawa up 19 positions, Fujiwaki up 26 positions despite limited competitions)

Setting evolution quantified:

The season featured multiple instances of competition boulders estimated at V13/14—problems that would represent lifetime achievements for most climbers, attempted within 5-minute competition windows. The Prague and Bern M4 problems that stumped entire semifinal fields indicate a deliberate push toward differentiation through extreme difficulty in specific styles.

Implications for 2026 and beyond

The broken 3000 ELO barrier represents more than a statistical anomaly. Historical precedent suggests that once psychological barriers fall in sport, rapid progression follows. The question becomes not whether others can reach 3000, but how quickly the new benchmark will be normalized.

Japan’s depth problem persists despite the new six-athlete limit for 2026. With eight climbers in the global top 20, selection remains brutally competitive. This concentration of talent in one nation while other countries struggle to field competitive teams suggests potential IFSC quota system modifications may be necessary.

The trend toward multi-discipline excellence—exemplified by Lee’s boulder/lead success and reflected in LA28’s format separating all three disciplines—indicates specialization may become competitively disadvantageous. Athletes focusing on single disciplines risk being overtaken by more versatile competitors.

Conclusions

The 2025 season’s statistical extremes—from Anraku’s 3068 ELO to the unprecedented depth of sub-elite tiers—suggest competition climbing has entered a new phase of development. The World Championships’ final-boulder drama provided fitting punctuation: margins remain minimal despite expanding performance ceilings.

The data indicates 2025 wasn’t an outlier but rather an inflection point. Whether analyzing participation patterns, performance metrics, or setting difficulty, all trends point toward continued acceleration. The sport’s post-Olympic year answered questions about momentum maintenance with measurable evidence: competition climbing’s trajectory remains firmly upward.

Complete 2025 rankings and World Championship statistics available on our rankings page. The 2026 season begins March in Morioka, Japan.