After two French climbers made the men’s podium in Prague, the women are looking for a repeat with Oriane Bertone and Agathe Calliet the top two athletes making it through the IFSC Boulder World Cup semi-final.

Bertone has won previous in Prague and just like last night’s winner Mejdi Schalck, is hoping for a bit of a ‘comeback’ of her own to solidify the level she knows she has.

Bertone said: “When I was in qualis I walked through the same corridors I did when I won, and I feel happy, and I want to show again I am able to do it.

“The first three comps were frustrating for me as I know I have the level to do great things, but I am so close yet not doing it. And if I could do it here, that would be so awesome.”

The French climber was the only one in the round to top three of the four boulders, and if you were to dive into the statistics is probably the climber to spend the least amount of time on the wall, and that is a conscious decision: “I don’t have much volume since I started climbing again.

“I took two months off after the Games and volume isn’t my big strength at the moment, so I am trying less but with more quality than trying a lot and wasting tries. It wastes energy, and I want to avoid this.”

Talking specifically about her round Bertone said: “I’m quite happy because I topped a bunch of boulders. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t top the last one, it was just a bit weird, and I didn’t manage to find my way.

“It was a flash or fail boulder. Going up again was a bit hard, it was very pushy, and being tall it was quite hard – not an excuse, just I know now what I need to work on.”

With 84.8pts Bertone sits in first with teammate Calliet right behind in second with 69.7pts. Two tops and two zones secured the final spot for Calliet.

France isn’t the only nation with two climbers in the final with both Japan and Great Britain also having multiple podium chances.

Sekikawa Melody was third for Japan on 69.5pts and she is joined by Matsufuji Anon who was one of only two to top the final boulder which meant she jumped up into joint fifth, but also meant it pushed another teammate out of finals with Nonaka Miho the unlucky one in ninth.

Great Britain’s Erin McNeice made another final with 69.3pts for fourth and is joined by her teammate and first-time finalist Emma Edwards.

Edwards was the first out onto the mats in the semi-final, so had a long time to wait and watch to see if she would make it. She eventually did, sharing fifth spot with Matsufuji on 54.5pts.

During her wait Edward said: “Finals would be my dream so I would love to achieve that, but regardless, I’m happy with how I climbed, and we just see what happens.”

Luckily for her, what happened was a final spot and a dream come true.

Talking specifically about her round Edwards said: “I think I’m pretty happy with how it went. I was happy to top the coordination because I love coordination and I really wanted to do it in a comp. Obviously some mistakes, but overall I’m happy.”

The last two climbers to line-up for the final will be Slovenia’s Jennifer Buckley and Spain’s Gelia Macià Martín.

Buckley has won a World Cup medal before in Innsbruck last season. Macià Martín is in only her second Boulder World Cup. Both will be hoping medal success on the Youth Worlds stage can translate into the seniors and a place on the podium will be the outcome.

The women's final at 18:30 will be the final act of the IFSC Boulder World Cup Prague 2025.

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.