The final medals of the World Climbing Series 2026 were awarded in Santiago, Chile, with Janja Garnbret of Slovenia and Jonas Utelli of Switzerland winning the women\u2019s and men\u2019s Lead finals, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garnbret topped the final route to complete a dominant performance across all rounds, while Utelli converted his fourth-place semi-final seed into the first gold medal of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event also brought the season-long battle for the Lead Series Ranking titles to a conclusion, with Japan\u2019s Suzuki Neo and USA\u2019s Annie Sanders finishing at the top of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Janja Garnbret of Slovenia completed a dominant performance in Santiago, topping the women\u2019s final route to become the only female climber to record a top in any round of the competition, from qualification to the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory marked Garnbret\u2019s 34th Lead gold medal from 54 starts in World Cup and World Climbing Series competitions. With 52 gold medals across all disciplines in the same competitions, the Slovenian added another milestone to her career before heading into the off-season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competing for the first time since Wujiang 2026, Laura Rogora of Italy returned to the podium with a second-place finish, scoring 48+. It was the Italian\u2019s first medal since Koper 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa Rekar of Slovenia secured third place with 46+, earning the first podium of her career after 10 final appearances. Her compatriot Lucka Rakovec also scored 46+ but finished fourth following countback, recording her best placement in a World Climbing Series competition this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nakagawa Ryu of Japan placed fifth, followed by Helo\u00efse Doumont of Belgium in sixth, Tereza Siruckova of Czechia in seventh, and Ella Fisher of the USA in eighth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reflecting on her first visit to South America, Garnbret said: \u201cI feel super good. It\u2019s my first time in South America and the vibes are phenomenal. I enjoyed it from qualification to final. In front of such a crowd, it\u2019s easy to climb.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether the feeling of winning changes over time, she added: \u201cThe feeling never changes, I never get used to winning. Every medal is like the first one. I know how much hard work is behind every medal, so I\u2019m grateful for all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garnbret is now looking forward to a break from competition before beginning preparations for next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s time for some rock climbing, I\u2019m looking forward to that, then some time on the beach, some rest, and getting ready for next season, as we know it\u2019s pretty important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Utelli of Switzerland won the men\u2019s final after reaching 52 on a particularly challenging route, turning a fourth-place seed into his first World Climbing Series gold medal in his third final appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Garnbret, Utelli was the only man to record a top across the entire competition, having achieved the feat during qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putra Tri Ramadani of Indonesia, who led the semi-final ranking, finished second with 49, while Suzuki Neo of Japan completed the podium in third place with 47+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory came as a surprise even to Utelli, who struggled to find the words to describe the achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA big \u2018I don\u2019t know\u2019. It still feels unreal, I don\u2019t have the words at the moment,\u201d the Swiss climber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting to win, at all. I tried to enjoy climbing, enjoy Chile. Apparently, that\u2019s the way to win your first gold medal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three Japanese climbers finished outside the medal positions, with Yoshida Satone placing fourth, Hamada Ryusei fifth and Anraku Sorato sixth. France\u2019s Sam Avezou finished seventh, while Alberto Gin\u00e9s L\u00f3pez of Spain placed eighth after an early slip on the route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final competition of the season also settled the Lead Series Rankings presented by Euroholds, with Suzuki Neo and Annie Sanders of the USA claiming the men\u2019s and women\u2019s titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suzuki topped the men\u2019s standings with 4,820 points, adding the Series title to his third-place finish in Santiago. Putra Tri Ramadani finished second with 4,175 points, becoming the first Indonesian climber to reach a Series podium outside of Speed. Alberto Gin\u00e9s L\u00f3pez, winner of last year\u2019s season trophy, completed the top three with 3,455 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the women\u2019s standings, Sanders secured the title with 4,415 points despite not competing in Santiago. Garnbret\u2019s victory in Chile lifted her to second place with 3,805 points, while Seo Chaehyun of South Korea, also absent from the final competition, finished third with 3,565 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the World Climbing Series 2026 wrapped up in Santiago, two international events remain on the calendar: the World Climbing Para Series Gunsan 2026, taking place from 29 to 30 October, and the World Climbing Para Series Fukuoka 2026, scheduled for 5 to 6 November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The final medals of the World Climbing Series 2026 were awarded in Santiago, Chile, with Janja Garnbret of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[144,102],"class_list":["post-17111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-lead","tag-sport-climbing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t