1st IFSC Boulder World Cup Gold for Erin McNeice

Erin McNeice wins Bouldering Gold & Dayan Akhtar Finals in Bern

It was a weekend of firsts for two of the three Depot Climbing athletes involved at the latest round of IFSC Bouldering World Cup circuit in Bern, Switzerland; Erin McNeice continued her hot vein of form taking her first gold medal in a bouldering World Cup, with fellow athlete Dayan Akhtar reaching making his first finals appearence in the mens competition. 

Emma Edwards also continued her impressive debut senior season by making yet another semifinal to follow on from her 5th place finish in Prague a week previously.

First bouldering gold for Erin McNeice

Erin McNeice continues her stratospheric rise through the international climbing scene, having timed her arrival perfectly 12 months ago to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, and she hasn’t looked back since!

Fighting off the challenges of the current bouldering front runner, Annie Sanders of the USA, and Japan’s Miho Nonaka, Erin was the only competitor to top all 4 finals boulders to win her first gold medal at a bouldering World Cup, with a final score of 99.5, ahead of Sanders’ 84.4 in second and Miho’s 84.3 in third.

The win puts her 4th in the overall bouldering rankings for the current World Cup series behind Annie Sanders, Oriane Bertone and Mao Nakamura, to complement her 3rd place ranking in this season’s lead World Cup’s behind Chaehyun Seo and Ai Mori.

Coming through qualifiers in 9th, topping all the boulders, Erin upped her game in a tough semi-final round for all competitors, making finals in 2nd place despite only topping boulder 3.

This result now puts Erin top of the combined ranking of boulder & lead, with 1 bouldering World Cup event remaining before we reach the business end of the lead World Cups, with 5 rounds remaining.

First IFSC World Cup final for Dayan Akhtar

Fellow Depot athlete Dayan Akhtar made his first finals appearance of the 2025 season, following an impressive 9th place in qualifiers and 4th place in semi-finals amongst a strong field featuring experienced competitors such as Sorato Anraku, Colin Duffy and Tomoa Narasaki.

It was Dayan’s second appearance in a World Cup final, having come 4th in the Seoul World Cup in 2024, just over a year to the date as this most recent appearance.

Ending the competition with two zones, Dayan can look back at his performance and be pleased that his finals appearance now has him 8th in the overall bouldering rankings going into the final round of the season, an incredible achievement for a second senior series.

Another semi-final for Emma Edwards

It’s been an impressive debut in the senior IFSC circuit for Emma Edwards, amplified by the admission that she was disappointed with her semi final performance in Bern, ending the event in 16th position, despite mixing it with big names and senior competition experience.

This should in no way be thought of as a disservice of Emma, who ended her final junior season as the European Youth Boulder Champion last year, and took Gold in this year’s European Cup in Brussels, and has made 4 semis from 5 appearances in her debut senior season.

A graduate of the Depot Climbing academy, alongside fellow athlete Dayan Akhtar,  Emma has taken no time to settle in at senior level; Bern comes just a week after having qualified for the Prague finals in 5th, had to deal with the Women’s boulder final being cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, resulting in the final standings for Prague going on semi final qualification status.

Last week’s result meant Emma could safely close out the final boulder World Cup rounds, safe in the knowledge that she has booked her ticket for the World Championships in Seoul in September.

What’s next for Depot Athletes on the International stage?

Erin, Emma and Dayan will travel to Innsbruck for the final boulder World Cup of the season, with all three vying for personal bests on the International stage in the overall rankings.

Erin will continue her season with the lead World Cup rounds, and will be aiming to win the overall combined boulder and lead title, but there is some stiff competition to overcome first.