5/16/11 - The third leg of the Bouldering World Cup took place in Vienna, Austria, last weekend. Athletes from all over the world dynoed, mantled, and powered through problems that tested their strength, finesse, and agility on the brightly painted walls in front of crowds and cameras.
Russian Dmitry Sharafutdinov nabbed first place in the men’s division. Tension was high as the male competitors failed to send any of the first three problems. All moved on to the final problem, where Sharafutdinov sent the last problem on his fourth go (first boulder to go down in men's finals). After that, Klemen Becan, from Slovenia, sent it on his fifth try, with Lukas Ennemoser (Austria) following suit.
In the women’s division, Anna Stöhr took the gold on her home turf, finishing all of the four finals problems. American Alex Puccio came in second, finishing two problems and putting her in second overall after her third-place finish in Slovenia. Olga Shalagina from Ukraine took third, sending one problem. The rest of the women’s competitors all sent one problem and were then separated by the number of their attempts.
The other Americans competing, Alex Johnson and Ethan Pringle, didn't make finals. Johnson finished 25th overall, with Pringle in 16th (his first World Cup comp in years).
