Ontarians Impress In Swiss Boulder World Cup

For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a full contingent of Canadian climbers travelled to compete against the best on the IFSC World Cup Circuit. 5 Ontarians qualified for Canada’s High Performance Program this season, and 4 of them were selected to attend the first World Cup of 2022 in Meiringen, Switzerland.

Ontarians in the High Performance Program

Evangelina Briggs - follow on Instagram
Indiana Chapman - follow on Instagram
Madison Fischer - visit her website
Zach Richardson - follow on Instagram
Lucas Uchida - follow on Instagram

In Meiringen, Cambridge resident Madison Fischer climbed 4 of her 5 qualifying boulders to finish the round in joint 9th place out of 83 climbers. In the subsequent semifinals, Madison held strong with 2 tops, retaining her 9th place finish and outperforming many popular athletes including Olympians Brooke Raboutou (USA) and Jessy Pilz (AUT). This wasn’t enough to earn a spot in finals, but her result was out of the ordinary: only a handful of Canadians- men and women- have ever found their way into the semifinal of a World Cup.

Indiana Chapman finished in 68th, Lucas Uchida in 81st, and Zach Richardson in 85th. We want to extend our congratulations to all of the Canadian athletes who competed, and good luck for the rest of the season!

“I'm beyond ecstatic about my performance in Meiringen! I went into this season feeling good, but my result at this first world cup really cemented my confidence going into the rest of the season. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend, and I'm eager to see how much further I can push it.”

Madison Fischer

Photo reproduced with permission from Sytse Van Slooten.

Follow Canada’s climbing team at every World Cup this season! Viewers in Canada can watch IFSC events live on YouTube at the IFSC YouTube Channel. The full World Cup schedule can be found on the IFSC’s Calendar page.