Olympic gold medallists Janja Garnbret (23) and Alberto Ginés López (19) are amongst 189 athletes from 26 countries who will battle it out for victory in the Scottish capital from 9 September until 11 September in the IFSC World Cup 2022.
The competition’s arrival on UK shores has been a dramatic and exciting event. Earlier this year the original destination, China, in the face of an escalating COVID-19 pandemic, pulled out of hosting. With less than ten weeks to go the UK stepped forward and took the opportunity to stage a climbing World Cup in the UK's largest climbing arena, EICA: Ratho in Edinburgh, for the first time since 2017.
Danyil Boldyrev (30), a Ukraine speed master who topped the podium at the recent European Championships in Munich, will be competing alongside team mate Tkach Yaroslav (20), whose flights to the competition have been funded by the British Mountaineering Council, with local hosts providing accommodation.
The USA promises to bring the action as Natalia Grossman (21) continues on her incredibly successful world cup campaign with a total of eight podium finishes so far, and with Colin Duffy (18), the first athlete to place top spot in both lead and boulder disciplines at the Innsbruck edition in June.
Great Britain has a steely female line-up, with Molly Thompson-Smith (24) set to give it her all in one of the final international competitions before Olympic qualifiers next year, Hannah Slaney (22) who’ll be looking to improve on her 7th place lead final finish at the same venue during the 2017 World Cup and rising star Erin McNeice (18) who made finals at the 2022 Lead Continental Cup in Zilina, Slovakia.
The male lead athletes are not short of strength in depth, with current favourites Hamish Mcarthur (20), Max Milne (21) and Jim Pope (23) – GB’s highest-ranking athlete at the recent European championships – all set to consolidate strong performances across the world cup season.
Taking on the 15-metre speed wall will be recent record-holder Rafe Stokes (17), who hit sub-six seconds at the Youth World Championships in Dallas last month, joined by team mates Matthew Fall (20) and Saveena Fillingham (17).