The Lead competition at the IFSC Climbing and Para Climbing World Championships 2025 will feature the most successful athletes in history, in both the men’s and women’s categories.

GARNBRET, SCHUBERT CHASE MORE HISTORY

Currently with the edge in total medals across the disciplines, Austria’s Jakob Schubert has 11 total medals with six gold, but edging the gold count Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret has eight with a total of 10. Both will be hoping to add to their tallies in Seoul, and few would bet against them to do it.

Schubert is the current Lead world champion winning in Bern, Switzerland in 2023, but Garnbret will be out to reclaim her crown after finishing with a silver medal. The women’s champion Mori Ai will not be in Seoul, but no matter who competes, Garnbret wants to beat them.

KIM, SEO LEAD THE HOME TEAM

A multiple world champion and a legend of the sport, Kim Jain will be in front of her home crowd alongside Seo Chaehyun. Kim has the experience competing at her first World Championships before the IFSC even existed in 2005, but Seo is the in-form climber with two golds and two silver medals from the 2025 series. Seo also won bronze in Bern last time out.

YOUTH AND DEPTH IN THE WOMEN’S FIELD

When you talk about form climbers you have to mention USA’s Annie Sanders and Great Britain’s Erin McNeice. Both won World Cup’s and featured on multiple podiums in 2025 with McNeice also winning the overall title.

Italy’s Laura Rogora also has multiple podiums and was third in the overall, while climbers like Belgium’s Heloïse Doumont and Spain’s Geila Macià Martín have had a bit of a breakout year making finals.

Having Garnbret in your team often taking the headlines means sometimes climbers can slip under the radar, but the Slovenian women have a strong team with climbers like youth world champions Rosa Rekar, two-time Olympian Mia Krampl, and the returning Lucka Rakovec all doing well at the World Cups. Rakovec’s return has been even more incredible following a long absence with thyroid cancer that thankfully is now under control.

GINÉS LÓPEZ AND ONDRA HEADLINE THE MEN

For the men, undoubtedly the form climber is Spain’s Alberto Ginés López who made the podium at every Lead World Cup this season and taking the overall title.

Like Kim, another legend status climber, Czechia’s Adam Ondra will be aiming for more World Championships success now that he is solely focusing on the Lead discipline.

FRANCE, JAPAN STACK THEIR LINEUPS

Japan’s Anraku Sorato took silver in Bern behind Schubert and once again has had a strong year winning three Lead World Cup’s. The Olympic silver medallist will be on a strong team of Japanese climbers that includes World Cup winners Suzuki Neo and Yoshida Satone.

France’s Max Bertone won a World Cup medal as did Italy’s Filip Schenk who claimed his first in 2025. With another first, Indonesia’s Putra Tri Ramadani made his first final at the last Lead World Cup of the season, and if the old sporting cliché of 'you are only as good as your last race’ applies, then Ramadani will be hoping for a good competition in Seoul.

BRITISH TALENT LOOKING FOR MORE

Climbers like USA’s Jesse Grupper and Colin Duffy, and Switzerland’s Sascha Lehmann and Jonas Utelli will be hoping to replicate their World Cup outings, and who can forget the Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Toby Roberts.

Roberts has had an up and down season in 2025 but has visited the Lead World Cup podium twice with a silver and a bronze. The British climber will be hoping for more Olympic form to push for a world medal.

GARNBRET IS HUNGRY FOR MORE, SCHUBERT NOT AT 100% YET

Digging deeper into Garnbret and Schubert’s World Championships build up, both have had some time away from competitions, but both for very different reasons.

Garnbret said: "It’s been a busy year I must say. I felt like I needed to compete less, to keep my hunger at the high level and to kind of reset my mind and body.

"I focused more on rock climbing, which I enjoyed a lot, I took on a role of the ambassador of Slovenian sports and initiatives around that were really heartwarming as we want to help young athletes from underprivileged environments. So, a busy year overall, that made me want competitive Climbing even more and be ready to focus on it when competitions arrive."

Schubert said: "This has been the most difficult season for me. At least it was my worst injury. After the Olympics I had troubles with different fingers. My body gave me signs that I worked a little too hard for the Olympics. I managed it to get there, but after Paris I couldn’t climb.

"In January I injured my capsula in one finger. At first, we thought it wasn’t that bad, but it didn’t get better. It disturbed my plans, I couldn’t compete. I wanted to come back in Innsbruck, but it wasn’t possible. That was a big blow, as I always want to compete in front of my home crowd. At the same time, it motivated me, I realised that I still love Climbing and competing. Now I’m still not 100%, but it’s okay."

SCHUBERT: "I WANT TO DEFEND MY TITLE"

Thinking about Seoul specifically Schubert said: "As I said, my body isn’t 100%, but it’s manageable. Sometimes I can still feel the pain. My expectations are a little different this time. I want to defend my title, but it will be hard. Normally I would go to World Champs and expect a medal from myself, now it’s different. It’s still possible, but much harder. The field looks stronger than ever."

While Schubert couldn’t compete at his home World Cup in Innsbruck, Garnbret did. It was her first World Cup since her Olympic triumph in Paris, and there were mixed feelings about the return: "To some extent I felt like I was never away, but at the same time I knew it has been nine months without competing, so there was bit of rustiness if you want to call it that.

"Maybe I wanted it to be the same as before too much and kind of rushed into things. So, after a few boulders I kind of came back to my mode and felt amazing at the finals. And my climbing showed that I think."

DEALING WITH MOUNTING PRESSURE

One thing all top athletes have to deal with is pressure, and for Garnbret and Schubert it is no different.

"Honestly, it’s been like this for years," said Garnbret. "So I am quite used to it. It is a privilege more than a burden. The feeling of pressure gets bigger at events like the World Championships, of course, that’s why it is so exciting. But at the same time, I trust the process that I have in preparations to put myself in a position where I can put the pressure and expectations on the side and just perform. I have a team around me that knows how I like to operate and creates an environment that helps me be at my best."

Schubert said: "There is always pressure on me. I’m used to it – the more you achieved, the more the people expect from you. It’s not that big this year with all my injury history. Also, there is a lot of pressure from yourself. Last year I really wanted to win gold in Paris, nothing else mattered."

It was medals or nothing for Schubert at Paris 2024, and the upcoming World Championships is no different: "I’ve had to shift my goals a little bit because of the injury, but it’s still the World Champs, nobody cares about anything but the medals."

For Garnbret’s goals: "I always want to perform at my best; I want to show my best climbing. Anyone who trains hard is here to win, and it is the same with me. I hope we will be able to show good climbing and what everyone have been preparing for."

Summing up how we are all feeling about the World Championships Garnbret said: "Very excited. It’s the biggest competition of the season. I always loved Korea and the fans there, so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun."

NEXT UP

Climbing for Garnbret, Schubert and all the Lead athletes will start on Monday 22 September with the men’s and women’s qualification at 09:00 (UTC+9:00) local time.

News and updates about the event will be available on the IFSC 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.