Natalia Grossman Earns First Bouldering Gold Medal Of World Cup Season
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by Todd Kortemeier
Natalia Grossman celebrates during the women's bouldering qualifications at the IFSC Climbing World Cup on May 29, 2021 in Salt Lake City.
Reigning bouldering world champion and bouldering world cup winner Natalia Grossman is off to a great start in 2022, following up her April world cup season-opening silver medal with a gold medal Sunday in Seoul, South Korea, in her best event.
Grossman managed four tops and four zones to finish ahead of France’s Oriane Bertone in second. Team USA’s Brooke Raboutou, who competed in the Olympic debut of climbing at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, came in third. It was Raboutou’s first world cup medal since June of last year in Innsbruck.
For the 20-year-old Grossman of Boulder, Colorado, it’s yet another bouldering title in her young but impressive career. Grossman earned her first world cup victory in the 2021 season’s second event in Salt Lake City, then followed that up with a second consecutive gold medal a week later on her way to winning the season bouldering title. That September she became the first American to win a climbing world title since Robyn Erbesfield won the lead world championship in 1995.
No U.S. men made the bouldering final; Palmer Larsen was the top finisher in 25th. The world cup schedule now moves to the U.S. for a pair of events in Salt Lake City across the last two weekends of the month.
Todd Kortemeier #
Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor, and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
