Gripped Magazine
Annie Sanders Wins Gold After Crazy Hard World Cup
Annie Sanders won the women’s Boulder competition at the World Climbing Series Innsbruck 2026, taking gold after also finishing first in qualification and semi-final. The American scored 68.9 points to claim her second Boulder title of the season and third Series win in less than two weeks, following her Boulder and Lead double in Prague (read about her double gold here). With the Lead event still to come in Innsbruck, Sanders now has the chance to repeat the feat.
A brutally difficult final produced just three tops across the entire field, with Sanders responsible for two of them. She was the only climber to top more than one boulder, solving W2 and W4 to build an unassailable lead. Her decisive moment came on W2, which she flashed on her first attempt. Only Camilla Moroni had previously reached the zone, after 10 attempts, while every other finalist failed to score.
“It feels pretty surreal,” Sanders said after the flower ceremony. “Innsbruck is one of my favourite places, my European home, so to win gold here is really cool. I feel really good about my shape, I had a ton of fun out there on the mats, and I’m super psyched right now! I’ll definitely enjoy this medal, have a nice rest day tomorrow and watch the boys, support Colin, before thinking about Lead. I’ll get some sleep, chill, and maybe get some ice cream, they have good ice cream here!”
Erin McNeice of Great Britain took silver with 34.8 points, while Oceania Mackenzie of Australia completed the podium with bronze on 30.0 points. Watch finals below and see the final results here.
Finals
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