Bern Bouldering 2026: Anraku and Mackenzie Make History

The Festhalle Bern holds 6,000 people when a concert fills it. For the World Climbing Series bouldering finals this past weekend, every one of those seats was occupied — and the noise when Oceania Mackenzie's feet touched the floor after the final problem of her historic women's final shook the hall's ceiling.

Australia's first ever World Climbing gold. A 23-year-old from Melbourne. In the Festhalle, in Switzerland, on Saturday evening.

It had never happened before. It will not be forgotten.

The Men's Final: Anraku Confirms His Season

Sorato Anraku arrived in Bern as the defending season leader, having won Round 1 of the 2026 World Climbing Series boulder season in Keqiao, China. The 19-year-old Japanese climber has spent two seasons rewriting expectations in World Cup bouldering — technically precise, controlled, with a reading ability and body tension that makes V12-level movement look, to the uninitiated eye, almost unremarkable.

Sunday's men's final at the Festhalle was the 421st World Cup event in climbing history. Anraku had won six of the previous editions. By Sunday evening he had won his seventh.

The competition format is exact: six athletes, four problems, four minutes per problem, five minutes rest between each. The winner is decided by tops, then zones, then total attempts. It rewards climbers who can read and execute under extreme pressure in front of thousands of spectators.

Anraku's final began with a setback. On Problem 1, he failed to score a point — a sight so unusual from a climber who had topped every problem in the semifinal that the Festhalle fell briefly quiet. But what followed illustrated why he is the sport's dominant force right now. He returned to Problem 2 and topped it on his second attempt. Then Problem 3 — a shoulder-intensive move off a sharp undercling that had ended three other finalists' chances of a full scorecard. Then Problem 4: a co-ordination sequence on a large, sloping feature that only Anraku read correctly across the entire final session.

Four tops. The only climber in the final to achieve that score. 74.2 points.

“I had a difficult start," he said through a translator at the post-final press conference, still wearing his competition shoes. "But I knew I just needed to climb my best on every problem. I never stopped believing I could get all four tops.”

The final podium: Anraku gold, Mejdi Schalck (France) silver, Hannes Van Duysen (Belgium) bronze. Van Duysen had been exceptional in the semifinal — his Belgian debut on a World Cup podium was received with genuine warmth from a Swiss crowd experienced enough to appreciate a breakthrough result.

The Women's Final: Mackenzie Makes Australia's History

The women's final on Saturday afternoon produced a moment of a different kind — less about dominance than about a climber finally converting potential into a gold medal that had been close but not arrived.

Oceania Mackenzie had been finishing podiums. Bronze at the Prague World Cup in 2024. Bronze at Keqiao in April. She had the technical ability and the competitive form. The top step had stayed one position away.

At Bern's Festhalle, it arrived decisively.

From the opening problem, Mackenzie moved through the competition with a clarity that distinguished her from the field. She was the only woman in the final to top Problem 1 — a compression-style problem on a large feature that rewarded body position and patience over pure explosive power. The other five finalists reached zone. Mackenzie topped it. She established her lead immediately and maintained it through a beta break before Problem 2, adding another top.

By the time Problem 3 began, the mathematics were building. Her closest challenger — Sanders, who had pushed hardest through the semifinal — needed to reach zone. When Sanders failed to make that hold, Mackenzie's victory was confirmed with one boulder still unclimbed.

She topped Problem 3 anyway. Because that is what you do.

Final score: 74.5 points.

“I don't think it has sunk in yet," she said in the mixed zone, the hall still audible through the wall behind her. "Knowing I'm the first person to win this for Australia — that means everything to me. I've had a lot of near misses. I just tried to stay calm and climb my own problems today.”

She was born in July 2002. She is ranked as Australia's best competitive climber across lead, speed, and bouldering. She has been on the World Cup circuit since 2020 — grinding through qualification rounds, making finals, placing on podiums — and on Saturday in Bern she collected the result that all of those years had been building toward.

The preceding days set up the weekend's drama. Friday's qualifications saw the full 166-athlete field across men's and women's fields, with the top 20 in each discipline advancing to the semi.

In the men's semifinal, Anraku led the round with 74.2 points — topping three problems despite a difficult first boulder — and was joined by Amagasa (69.5 points) and Van Duysen (69.4 points). Paul Jenft of France was fourth at 68.4 and made his own competitive statement by matching the semifinal's top two problems.

In the women's semi, Mackenzie's technical consistency showed clearly. She advanced to the final alongside a group that included past World Cup medalists and the season's most consistent performers.

The six-person format of the World Cup bouldering final compresses the whole season's preparation into three hours on a Sunday. Anraku and Mackenzie each used those three hours exactly as required.

The Season Picture After Bern

Round 3 of the 2026 World Climbing Series boulder season moves to Madrid, Spain, May 28–31. Anraku's two consecutive wins have opened a commanding lead in the men's season standings. Mackenzie's gold — combined with her Keqiao bronze — has put her within range of the season's front runners in the women's competition.

The competitive format resets entirely with each new venue. Madrid will bring different problem-setting aesthetics, different wall angles, and a different reading challenge. Whether Anraku and Mackenzie can sustain the momentum is the central question heading south.

For climbers who want to experience the Swiss rock terrain that forms the training foundation for these athletes' outdoor sessions — see our Switzerland outdoor bouldering guide.