The Rise of Japanese Sport Climber Anraku Sorato: His Remarkable Boulder Victory at the IFSC World Cup Salt Lake City

Japanese sport climbing star Anraku Sorato made a remarkable climb on the final boulder route at the IFSC World Cup Salt Lake City on Saturday (4 May). The seventeen-year-old topped three of the four routes and secured his victory, bringing his total number of World Cup wins to five, with three others in lead climbing.

Anraku had won silver in boulder in Salt Lake City a year ago and followed that up with his first World Cup boulder title in Innsbruck, Austria. This time, he made zones on all four boulders but failed to top the last one. He was ecstatic after his win, calling it an important milestone in his training.

In an interview with commentator Alex Honnold via an interpreter, Anraku expressed his excitement and confidence after the win. He shared that figuring out the moves on the final boulder gave him the confidence to successfully top it, despite feeling nervous and stiff during the competition.

Later on Saturday evening, home climbers Emma Hunt and Sam Watson will compete in the women’s and men’s speed climbing events respectively. Watson, who set a new men’s world record last month with a time of 4.79 seconds, will be a strong contender in the event. The women’s boulder competition is scheduled to take place on Sunday (5 May), adding to the excitement of the World Cup event.