The World Climbing Para Series Fukuoka, the final event of the season, saw 19 gold medals won across the sport classes, and one bronze medal marking a new nation\u2019s rise in the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By making it into the final of the men\u2019s RP2, South Korea\u2019s Taein Yun knew he was going to mark a first for his country \u2013 taking a medal, of any colour in Para climbing. Fully joining the circuit at last year\u2019s World Championship in Seoul, the South Korean team did not have to wait long for a taste of the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s Manikandan Kumar won the class reaching hold 33 with Austria\u2019s Daniel Wiener taking silver on hold 32+. They were joined by Yun, who was competing in his fifth competition and fourth World Climbing Para Series event, on the podium picking up bronze on hold 19+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austria\u2019s Jasmin Plank topped the women\u2019s RP2 final route to secure gold ahead of silver medallist Matoi Futahashi of Japan who reached hold 33+ and Italy\u2019s Chiara Cavina who took bronze on hold 32. Plank\u2019s gold was the fifth of the season meaning see triumphed at every World Climbing Para Series competition in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her first full season on the circuit, Slovenia\u2019s Pia Purkart can be pleased with a collection of two gold\u2019s and two silver medals, with one of those golds coming in Fukuoka. Purkart climbed to hold 35+ and beat silver medallist Marina Dias of Brazil who hit hold 32+ and bronze medallist Nat Vorel of the USA on hold 31+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After her win Purkart said:\u00a0\u201cIt was great. I really liked the route, except for the last move. I knew I couldn\u2019t do the press, but it went great otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was really nervous, but I managed to calm myself and climb the way I wanted to. But a little bit of nerves for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kazuhiko Yamashita is the current world champion in the men\u2019s RP3, but the home crowd in Japan was enough to tip him over the edge and win his first gold in the World Climbing Para Series after previously a best finish of silver. His qualification result was the key as both he and silver medallist Camille Caulier of Belgium topped the final route. Yamashita and Caulier were joined in the podium by Japan\u2019s Tadashi Takano who reached hold 40+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netherlands\u2019 Eva Mol stopped USA\u2019s Melissa Ruiz from also completing a perfect season by taking gold in the women\u2019s RP1. Mol reached hold 35+ with Ruiz on hold 33. They were joined on the podium by bronze medallist Charlotte Faist from Germany on hold 25+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alo\u00efs Pottier claimed the final men\u2019s RP1 gold of the season with the French climber hitting hold 45+ ahead of Norway\u2019s Kim Rishaug in silver on hold 41+ and Germany\u2019s Korbinian Franck in bronze on hold 41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week in Gunsan, so tight was the final rounds that two classes were separated by time. Once again time was the decider as Japan\u2019s Sho Aita won gold in the men\u2019s B1 class ahead of Spain\u2019s Francisco Javier Aguilar Amoedo. Both reached hold 39+ with Aita doing it in 5:08 and Aguilar Amoedo in 5:26. Spanish teammate Guillermo Pelegr\u00edn G\u00f3mez took the bronze reaching hold 27+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austria\u2019s Lilli Marie Laschitz was one of two climbers to reach a top in the B class finals, and with it secured the women\u2019s B1 gold. Italy\u2019s Nadia Bredice took silver behind Laschitz on hold 35+ beating Japan\u2019s Hiromi Aoki of Japan on countback as she made the same point eventually taking bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other climber to top was USA\u2019s Linn Poston in the women\u2019s B3 which gave her the gold. After her win Poston said:\u00a0\u201cI felt really good. Honestly that\u2019s the best I have felt doing any sort of rope climbing in a while, so I just really locked in and felt really confident. All of my training just came together for that route.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about the final jump move to top the route Poston said:\u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t know I had won at that point, but I wasn\u2019t that stressed because I have been intentionally training jumps because they show up in a lot of non-Para climbing comps that I compete in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poston\u2019s USA teammate Phoebe Barkan took silver reaching hold 26+ while Japan\u2019s Mika Maeoka took bronze reaching hold 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like Yamashita in the RP3, Japan\u2019s Takumi Kawamura took inspiration from the home crowd to win his first gold medal. Kawamura climbed to hold 31 in the men\u2019s B3 to take his maiden victory ahead of silver medallist Hassan Mohammadi of USA on hold 22+ and Sebastian Schmitz of Switzerland who took bronze on hold 18+. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The home crowd had a lot to shout about in the men\u2019s B2 competition with a full Japanese podium lockout. Kazuhiro Minowada won gold on hold 39 beating teammate Fumiya Hamanoue on countback. Motohiro Ejiri won the bronze on hold 22+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great Britain\u2019s Abigail Robinson has won every Para climbing event she has entered, and she finished 2026 with another perfect record after taking gold in Japan. The British climber won getting to hold 35+ with USA\u2019s Seneida Biendarra in silver on hold 30+ and Austria\u2019s Linda Le Bon in bronze on hold 21+. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the Fukuoka event, USA\u2019s Ethan Zilz had one gold to his name from Innsbruck in 2024. The American climber now has two after winning the men\u2019s AL2 competition. Zilz climbed to hold 40+ for the win and after said:\u00a0\u201cI felt great. There was a lot of debate in isolation about the beta, but when I got on the wall, I followed my instincts and it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zilz also had a mention for the unseen figures behind the competition: \u201cThe routesetters are always pushing the limits. Especially the last move, the pommel move was super challenging. The routesetters did great pushing us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Italy\u2019s David Kammerer took silver on hold 37+ and Spain\u2019s Rub\u00e9n Rold\u00e1n Bustos took bronze on hold 36+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France\u2019s Lucie Jarrige is used to tasting gold with over 25 top step finishes to her name. She won bronze in Gunsan last week but returned to the top in the women\u2019s AL2 competition climbing to hold 33+ for the win. The French climber finishes the series with three gold\u2019s and two bronze medals. Australia\u2019s Sarah Larcombe took silver on hold 25+ and USA\u2019s Cail Soria won bronze on hold 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jarrige\u2019s teammate Solenne Piret also won gold when she climbed to hold 35+ in the women\u2019s AU2. Piret beat Italy\u2019s Lucia Capovilla and USA\u2019s Maureen Beck who both climbed to hold 26+, with the Italian winning silver on countback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USA\u2019s Brian Zarzuela won gold in the men\u2019s AU2 when he reached hold 37+ for gold. Zarzuela beat Norway\u2019s Isak Ripman who climbed to hold 34+ for silver and Brazil\u2019s Eduardo Miguel Schaus who climbed to hold 33+ for bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the AU3 competitions, it was USA and Switzerland who triumphed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wanying Morningstar made her debut on the circuit in her homeland and took silver in that Salt Lake City event at the start of the season. She then returned to competition in Laval to take her first gold and finished the season in Fukuoka with another win. Not a bad return in your first senior year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American climbed to hold 32 to win and beat silver medallist Manca Smrekar of Slovenia who took silver on hold 26 and teammate Veronica Sturman who took bronze on hold 15+. It was Sturman\u2019s second competition and first medal \u2013 so the future is looking bright for Team USA in the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominic Geisseler and Nobuhiro Yasuraoka both climbed to hold 28+ in the men\u2019s AU3 final, but due to countback the Swiss climber took gold with the Japanese climber in silver position. USA\u2019s Nathan McKinley joined them on the podium with bronze on hold 23+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AL1 class has been mixed throughout the season, and Angelino Zeller has won gold in all of them. The Austrian climber reached hold 41+ to make it five from five for the season beating Belgium\u2019s Pavitra Vandenhoven and teammate Markus P\u00f6sendorfer. Both climbed to hold 39+ in the final, but Vandenhoven took the silver due to her higher placing in qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The podium presentations for all the classes brought the curtain down on the World Climbing Para Series 2026, and now all the climbers can look forward to the off-season before coming back to competition in 2027 for another round of the series and the World Championship in Brno, Czechia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Climbing Para Series Fukuoka, the final event of the season, saw 19 gold medals won across<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17519,"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":[44],"tags":[307,102],"class_list":["post-17517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-para-climbing","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