The men opened the IFSC World Cup Prague 2025 event with qualification
Kicking off the IFSC World Cup Prague 2025, the men’s Boulder athletes completed qualification with home nation hero Adam Ondra moving through a rollercoaster of emotions into the semi-finals.
Happy. Frustrated. Relaxed. Nervous. Ondra went through them all on what he says will be his final IFSC Boulder World Cup appearance in front of his home crowd in Czechia. But it’s Adam Ondra, so you probably wouldn’t expect anything less.
“I feel happy” said Ondra after finishing his qualification round. “Even after topping out boulder five I was a little bit frustrated as I thought it’s not going to be enough as I messed up really badly on number three. It seems like it could be enough though. It feels amazing and I’m happy I will get to climb in the semis tomorrow.”
It certainly was enough, as Ondra eventually finished in seventh overall, alongside the only gold medallist in the Boulder discipline so far this season – Japan’s Anraku Sorato.
It means Ondra will get to climb again, something he is very much looking forward to for one reason: “The crowd, especially as it’s only the qualification round, was amazing. I felt relaxed, a little nervous, but I can’t wait for tomorrow as it’s going to be huge.”
Climbing is not all about mentality and feelings though: “Physically I feel strong. Number one was a purely physical boulder and it hasn’t been topped, I was the closest person to do it, so makes me feel confident.”
Ondra was in Group B and no one topped the first boulder, but in Group A there were a few including Japan’s Sano Daiki and France’s Mejdi Schalck. Sano finished in first overall alongside South Korea’s Lee Dohyun while Schalck was third alongside teammate Samuel Richard.
Olympic champion Toby Roberts has had a slow start to the season compared to his lofty standards. He moved into the semi-finals in a four-way tie on 19th with teammate Max Milne, Japan’s Yamaguchi Kento and France’s Antoine Girard.
One spot down there was a five-way tie on position 23 which means there will be a 27-man final instead of the usual 24.
The climbers making it in 23rd spot were France’s Thomas Lemagner, Italy’s Matteo Reusa, Great Britain’s Hamish McArthur and Germany’s Elias Arriagada Krüger and Lasse Von Freier.
The competition continues with the women set for their qualification later today. The men will battle it out in the semi-final and final tomorrow.
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, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
