Introduction

Never before have we seen a debut season like Sorato Anraku’s. It’s completely inaccurate to describe Boulder as a weakness for Sorato, since he came in the top five at four or the six Boulder World Cups he competed in, and won the overall world cup series. It’s only the fact that he won three lead world cups, came third in another, and finished no lower than sixth throughout the entire season - which he also won, of course - that his bouldering ability appears comparatively weaker, by the most tenuous of margins.

Living Legend Jakob Schubert himself seemed more excited about watching Sorato climb than he did about winning the combined Gold in Bern, saying ‘he’s such a good climber, and I’m kind of sad, I feel like he wasn’t able to show his best today, I feel like he is the best combined climber right now, today I had my day, but we’re definitely going to see him at the Olympics’.

With a 2023 that will go down in history, in which he won the Overall Boulder World Cup, the Overall Lead World Cup, the Combined Sport Climbing Gold at the Asian Games, and the combined Boulder and Lead at the Asian Qualifier in Jakarta, it’s no wonder that Sorato Anraku is ranked by the IFSC as the very best combined Boulder and Lead athlete in the world, more than 1,000 points ahead of Toby Roberts in No.2.

As Jakob said, Sorato is the best combined climber in the world right now, and, as Jakob predicted, we will be seeing him at the Olympics. If he performs anywhere near his best, then it will be a hard job for anyone to stop him.

Qualification route

IFSC Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023: 1st Place (Boulder & Lead)

Arguably the hardest continental qualifier of them all - with 6 of the top 10 ranked Lead and Boulder athletes being from either Japan or Korea - Sorato won the Asian Qualifier in Jakarta to claim his Olympic ticket. He was the only athlete to top all four boulders (scoring an almost perfect 99.7 points), before rectifying his 0.3 point error in the Lead with a perfect 100 points, making for a final score of 199.7/200. At least there’s room for improvement...

Trivia

Sorato’s debut season saw him become the first male climber to win the IFSC World Cup Series in both Boulder and Lead in the same year.

UKC prediction

1st place

In an Olympics that may well end up being a case of experience vs youth, we’ve picked Sorato Anraku to come out on top. Currently ranked No.1 in the world in Lead, Boulder, and combined Lead & Boulder, he won three lead world cups and a boulder world cup in 2023, reached every single lead final, and came in the top five at four out of the six Boulder World Cups he competed in. With the boldness of youth, the seal of approval from Jakob, and an incredible year of climbing behind him, Sorato is our pick for the Gold.