IFSC Climbing World Cup Koper 2025: Full Preview, Schedule & Live Stream Guide

There is hardly a more idyllic sport climbing location than Plus Climbing Koper in Slovenia.

After all, the top climbers in the world don’t often get to stare out to sea or take in the lovely town square from the wall they’re climbing on.

However, when the stakes are as high as they are in the IFSC World Cup Koper 2025, those same attractions can be highly distracting.

After the competition starts on Friday, September 5, climbers won’t have much time to relax and enjoy the scenery because everything from personal pride to arduously earned World Cup titles will be on the line.

You can be sure that the World Cup will be an interesting competition if you include the return of Slovenian double Olympic winner Janja Garnbret.

Learn all you need to know about the IFSC World Cup Koper 2025 by scrolling down, including the athletes to watch, the schedule in detail, and how to watch sport climbing live from Slovenia’s tranquil coastline.

Will the World Cup title fight be complicated by the return of climbing’s queen?

As the season’s final Lead World Cup approaches, the women’s competition features a four-way title fight, with Annie Sanders of the United States of America, Seo Chaehyun of the Republic of Korea, Laura Rogora of Italy, and Erin McNeice of Great Britain leading the field.

Although the duel between McNeice and Seo, who tied for the victory at the season’s first World Cup in Wujiang, People’s Republic of China, has dominated much of the season, the title match is still substantially up for grabs.

The top four climbers are separated by less than 900 points, and the Koper champion will undoubtedly earn 1,000 points for their efforts. Even if there are many possible combinations, Janja Garnbret, a double Olympic champion, may force them to be reconsidered.

The Slovenian superstar, who missed a large portion of the season, is back in action in the World Cup in preparation for the 2025 IFSC World Championships. He is rested and eager to entertain the local fans.

Garnbret will rely on the same strength and technique that helped her win gold at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 in an attempt to extend her winning streak in the discipline, which dates back to the 2023 IFSC World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, and includes this year’s competition in Innsbruck, Austria.

This season has been anything but predictable, with five different champions from five different contests, despite the fact that she may be the clear favorite to win in Koper. This makes the title match and final Lead World Cup all the more intriguing.

Can the wunderkind from Spain win the World Cup?

With four climbers remaining in the running for the World Cup title going into Koper, the men’s competition tells a story that is essentially the same.

Alberto Ginés López of Spain, the first male athlete to win an Olympic title in sport climbing, is ahead of Yoshida Satone, Suzuki Neo, and Anraku Sorato, the 2025 Boulder World Cup winner from Japan.

Even though the Spaniard hasn’t won a World Cup match yet this season, he has a remarkable track record of finishing on the podium and in the final. With just 160 points separating him and his closest opponent, Yoshida, he will need to maintain this run.

Every move, hold, and position will be essential for winning the months-long competition for the World Cup bragging rights, since the victor will undoubtedly add 1,000 points to their total.

Of course, there can be other factors involved, similar to the women’s competition.

With the Paris 2024 Olympic champion Toby Roberts possible making a comeback and Madrid winner Dohyun Lee maybe putting on another strong performance, the title match is far from clear-cut and neat going into the season’s last Lead World Cup.