2026 World Climbing Series Grandly Opens in Shaoxing Keqiao

As a great start to top climbing games around the world, the 2026 World Climbing Series began on May 1 at Yangshan Climbing Centre in Keqiao, Shaoxing, Zhejiang.

This popular world-class climbing competition has been held in Keqiao for three years in a row. It shows Keqiao has great sports fields, good event teams and strong influence in global climbing. It is the first international game under the new name “World Climbing”. The sport’s old organization IFSC changed its name at the end of 2025. New rules and new looks make global climbing more professional and lively.

The first competition in Keqiao lasted from May 1 to May 3. It only had men’s and women’s bouldering. In this sport, players climb short hard walls without safety ropes. It tests strength, flexibility, quick thinking and quick changes. People all over the world love watching it. 142 top climbers from 31 countries took part, including many world champions and new young sports stars.

After three days of hard games, new winners appeared. In the men’s bouldering final, Japanese young climber Sorato Anraku played almost perfectly. He dealt with difficult climbing walls well and won the first prize. He kept making progress in the 2026 games.

The women’s gold medal went to French climber Zélia Avezou. This was her first world cup win. She stayed calm and careful in every round. Slovenian great climber Janja Garnbret got the silver. She hopes to win 50 world cup gold medals in her career.

China sent 14 young climbers to compete at home, seven boys and seven girls. Two Chinese boys entered the men’s final and got fifth and sixth places. Chinese player Zhang Yuetong reached the women’s semi-final. Their good results show Chinese climbing is getting stronger.

The Keqiao game started this year’s global climbing season. Later, matches would be held in Suzhou Wujiang, Guiyang and Chongqing. Yangshan Climbing Centre was built for Hangzhou Asian Games. It has world-class facilities and has become a famous climbing base in Asia.

This competition is very important. It lets climbers from different countries learn from each other. Hosting top games helps more young people love climbing, develops local sports and tourism. Chinese athletes also get more international experience to do better in future world games and the Olympics.