UTELLI TAKES FIRST CAREER GOLD
Jonas Utelli of Switzerland won the men’s 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.
Like Garnbret, Utelli was the only man to record a top across the entire competition, having achieved the feat during qualification.
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+.
The victory came as a surprise even to Utelli, who struggled to find the words to describe the achievement.
“A big ‘I don’t know’. It still feels unreal, I don’t have the words at the moment,” the Swiss climber said.
“I wasn’t expecting to win, at all. I tried to enjoy climbing, enjoy Chile. Apparently, that’s the way to win your first gold medal.”
Three Japanese climbers finished outside the medal positions, with Yoshida Satone placing fourth, Hamada Ryusei fifth and Anraku Sorato sixth. France’s Sam Avezou finished seventh, while Alberto Ginés López of Spain placed eighth after an early slip on the route.
SUZUKI AND SANDERS WIN LEAD SERIES RANKING TITLES
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’s and women’s titles.
Suzuki topped the men’s 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 Ginés López, winner of last year’s season trophy, completed the top three with 3,455 points.
In the women’s standings, Sanders secured the title with 4,415 points despite not competing in Santiago. Garnbret’s 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.
NEXT UP
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.
News and updates about all World Climbing events will be available on the World Climbing website, and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.