The women's Boulder qualification took place on Wednesday morning in the outdoor arena at the Kletterzentrum Innsbruck. Competing in her first home World Cup, Rauter arrived full of confidence after claiming the U19 European title in Sukoró (HUN) just three days earlier. “After my U19 European Championship final, I had that special moment when I topped two boulders that nobody else managed to climb. Those are emotions you never forget. This morning, I even wrote in my diary that I wanted to experience a moment like that again.”
And during the competition, she did exactly that. Rauter recorded two tops and three additional zones across the five qualification boulders, scoring 79.6 points to finish seventh in Qualification Group A. Overall, she secured 13th place in the qualification standings and comfortably advanced to Thursday’s semifinal, featuring the top 24 athletes (13:00, live on ORF Sport+).
“Before the last boulder, I already knew that if I topped it, I would make the semifinal. I went into it thinking, ‘I can climb this boulder.’ And when I actually did it, the joy was incredible,” said the 17-year-old from Tyrol, who was loudly cheered on by her family, friends and teammates. “The atmosphere here in Innsbruck is just something special. I knew people would be supporting me, and that gives you so much energy. Climbing in front of a home crowd is a truly unique experience.”
Her goal for the semifinal? “Most of all, I want to start with confidence. I know I’m capable of climbing well. My goal is to enjoy it and show what I can do.”
First place in the respective qualification groups went to Annie Sanders (USA) and Agathe Calliert (FRA). Lea Kempf finished 47th with 54.5 points, while Katharina Bergmann placed 53rd with 34.2 points. Sina Willy (20.0) and Lena Schrittwieser (19.9) finished 63rd and 69th respectively.
The women's Boulder semifinal will take place on Thursday at 13:00 and will be broadcast live on ORF Sport+. Before that, the men's Boulder qualification is scheduled for Wednesday from 15:30.
