This weekend, 10 athletes represented Team USA in Curitiba, Brazil for South America’s first-ever IFSC Climbing World Cup. Podiums were awarded for the second Boulder World Cup of the year at the Parque Olímpico do Cajuru (Brazilian National Climbing Training Center).

Sanders Makes First-Ever World Cup Semi-Finals and Finals 

Five women represented Team USA at the IFSC World Cup Curitiba 2025, with Cloe Coscoy, Kyra Condie and Helen Gillett all advancing to Semi-Finals. Meanwhile, Nekaia Sanders had a breakthrough performance in her first Semi-Finals and Finals rounds at her fourth World Cup. 

Sanders was the one Team USA athlete who advanced to Finals over the weekend. This fact, coupled with the realization that this was her first time advancing to either Semi-Finals or Finals at a World Cup, gave Sanders an emotional start the round.

“Honestly, this is only the second time I’ve ever cried in isolation. It was such a hard round and I had so much fun on the boulders and I’m clearly very excited,” said Sanders in anticipation for Finals.

In Semi-Finals, Sanders was notably the only climber to top W1, which featured her well-known strength of calculated slab movement. In Finals, W2 posed a challenge to every athlete due to its two large coordination dynos. Sanders swiftly got through the first hand-foot-match move, but fell three times going for the side-step dyno. Still, Sanders managed to hold onto the catch hold for an impressive amount of time. Despite her difficulties, Sanders left every climb with a contagious smile, stunning the crowd when she topped W3 with extreme precision on her second attempt. As the crowd cheered, Sanders couldn’t help but express her happiness by pumping the air and slapping the wall. Sanders finished 8th overall.

Representing Team USA in Semi-Finals, Cloe Coscoy placed 9th just after Sanders, which narrowly pushed her out of Finals. Kyra Condie came in 13th place after falling on the last move of W2, which cemented her placement. Finally, Helen Gillett earned 21st at her first-ever World Cup Semi-Finals.

Also representing Team USA in the Qualification round was Ella Fisher, who finished in 37th place. This is Fisher’s first season competing in the adult World Cup circuit.

Four men represented Team USA at the IFSC World Cup Curitiba 2025. Although none progressed to Semi-Finals, all closely followed each other in the Qualification round. 

After a high number of ties, Colin Duffy was bumped to 32nd place with two tops and one flash, which tied him with two other athletes. Vail Everett, competing in his first World Cup, flashed two climbs which landed him close behind Duffy in 36th place. In his second World Cup appearance, Joshua Gerhardt earned 43rd place with one top. Finally, Benjamin Hanna followed in 45th place after zoning in all but one climb.

You can rewatch the IFSC World Cup Curitiba 2025 on the IFSC YouTube Channel.

Follow @usaclimbing on social media for competition updates and behind-the-scenes action.