Ai Mori clinched gold for Japan at the season-ending Boulder & Lead World Cup in Morioka on Saturday, dominating the competition with outstanding climbs in both rounds of the women's final.
The 19-year-old, who scored 100 in the lead round of Friday's semifinal, fell just short of repeating the feat in the final, registering 92.1 as part of a 190.9 total at Iwate Prefectural Sports Park Climbing Stadium.
The Ibaraki Prefecture native finished 19.7 clear of American Natalia Grossman in second place on 171.2. She came into the lead round trailing Grossman by 0.3 after scoring 98.8 in the boulder round earlier in the day.
South Korea's Seo Chae Hyun finished third on 131.8, while Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Miho Nonaka was next-best among the Japanese climbers, coming in fifth on 104.0.
"I feel very happy because I could win in my home country," said Mori following her third World Cup win of the season. "I felt (it was) very hard...but it was very fun today."
The World Cup in Morioka featured the new boulder and lead format to be used at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where speed climbing will be contested as a separate event.
Climbers at last summer's Tokyo Games competed in a combined format comprising speed, boulder and lead.
Tokyo Olympian Tomoa Narasaki led a Japanese podium sweep of the men's final in the northeastern Japan city on Friday.
Related coverage:
Sport climbing: Tomoa Narasaki leads Japan World Cup podium sweep in Iwate
Sport climbing: Mori, 18, bests Garnbret for 1st lead World Cup title
Sport climbing: Miho Nonaka golden as Japan rocks World Games bouldering
