Gripped Magazine
Oceania Mackenzie Makes History with Australia’s First World Climbing Gold
Oceania Mackenzie claimed both her first World Climbing Series gold medal and Australia’s first-ever gold in the women’s Boulder competition in Bern, overcoming not only a stacked final but also unexpected disruption before the event. Ahead of the final, World Climbing released a statement confirming that images of the women’s Boulder routes had briefly appeared on a Chinese streaming platform after an issue with the international broadcast feed. Organisers said “immediate action was taken” and that any boulders shown were “changed or modified by the routesetting team to ensure the integrity of the competition.”
After years of consistency on the world stage, including bronze medals in Prague in 2024 and Keqiao earlier this season, Mackenzie delivered a breakthrough performance with three tops in the final. Starting strongly, she was the only climber to top the opening boulder, immediately taking the lead before adding another top on boulder two to maintain her advantage over USA’s Annie Sanders and Japan’s Mao Nakamura.
Tension rose on the third boulder when Mackenzie failed to reach the zone, though only Great Britain’s Erin McNeice managed to top it, keeping the Australian in contention. The competition remained wide open heading into the final climb, with several podium outcomes still possible. Mackenzie, however, stayed composed and secured the final top “almost nonchalantly” during a beta break, putting herself in a position where only Sanders could overtake her. When Sanders failed to make the zone on boulder three, Mackenzie’s victory was confirmed with an unbeatable 74.5 points.
Reflecting on the win, Mackenzie said: “I think I am still a little in shock. But really amazing.” She also explained the delayed celebration after her coach initially gave her incorrect results, saying: “I found out a bit earlier, but I think my coach was a bit nervous to say I had won so gave me the wrong results. So I had to wait a little bit longer before I was 100% sure before I celebrated so much.” McNeice secured silver with 69.0 points, while Sanders recovered to take bronze ahead of teammate Brooke Raboutou in fourth. Full results here.
Finals
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