Annie Sanders
American rock climber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anastasia "Annie" Sanders (born July 22, 2007) is an American rock climber who specialises in competition climbing, with an emphasis on the bouldering, lead, and combined disciplines. She came to international attention at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships in Voronezh, where she won gold in all three Youth B U16 events before the age of 15.[3] In the same year, she flashed the sport climbing route, Omaha Beach 5.14a (8b+) at the Red River Gorge, a climbing route considered an extreme standard of difficulty in outdoor sport climbing.[4]
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Sanders at 2025 Prague World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | July 22, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 162 cm (5 ft 4 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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In 2025, Sanders became the first American woman to win IFSC World Cup titles in both Lead and Bouldering.[5] The Olympics has described her as a “teenage sensation” in the sport.[6]
Early life
Sanders was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in a passionate climbing family. Her mother is both a climber and a coach, and Annie began climbing indoors and outdoors as early as age two and competing in youth events around seven years old. Summers for her family often involved camping and visiting climbing destinations—such as the Red River Gorge—and attending the IFSC Climbing World Cup in Vail.
By the time she entered high school, Sanders balanced a rigorous schedule of AP classes with intensive training and competitions. A 2024 NBC Dallas, Fort Worth profile highlighted how she structures her days around schoolwork and climbing, managing travel, rest, and competition preparation like a full-time athlete, all while keeping her sights set on the 2028 Olympics.[7][8]
Competition climbing career
Transitioning to senior competition, Sanders reached finals at Salt Lake City (4th) and Seoul (5th) during the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup season.[9] She claimed her first Boulder World Cup victory in Seoul with three tops and four zones in finals.[10][11] That season included podium finishes in Lead—Bronze medals in Koper and Seoul—and a 4th-place overall in Boulder World Cup standings.[12]
National titles
Her 2022 and 2024 national titles were earned during the full USA Climbing National Championships and National Team Trials. Sanders was only 15 years old when she claimed both elite bouldering and lead titles in 2024, making her one of the youngest American climbers to achieve this feat.[13]
- Three-time U.S. national bouldering champion – 2022 (G-1 Boulder Final), 2023 (Mesa Rim Final), 2024 (Sportrock Team Trials Final)
- Two-time U.S. national lead climbing champion – 2022 (G-1 Lead Final), 2024 (Sportrock Team Trials Final)
- U.S. national combined youth champion – 2021 (IFSC Youth World Championships, Voronezh)
2021 World Cup Season
In 2021, Sanders won gold medals in the bouldering, lead, and combined bouldering and lead events at the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships.[14]
2022 World Cup Season
In 2022, Sanders repeated as Youth World Champion in bouldering.[15] She won the USA Climbing National Championships in both bouldering and lead, her first senior competition at age 15.[16][17]
2023 World Cup Season
In 2023, at the 2023 USA Climbing National Team Trials, Sanders won in the bouldering, lead and combined events, thus qualifying to compete as part of the United States national team on the international senior circuit at age 15-16.[18] Sanders reached two bouldering finals during the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup season, placing 4th in Salt Lake City and 5th in the Seoul, and reached the final of the combined bouldering and lead event at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships, where she finished in eighth place.[1][19]
2024 World Cup Season
In 2024, Sanders won her first World Cup medals, collecting one gold medal and one bronze medal in the Boulder World Cup and two bronze medals in the Lead World Cup.[20][21][22][23]
2025 World Cup Season
She won the first Boulder World Cup event in Keqiao, China—becoming the fifth American woman to win multiple Boulder World Cups—and added a bronze at Salt Lake City.[24] and a silver in Bern.[25]
She continued her form at the IFSC Climbing World Cup Innsbruck 2025, topping three boulders and finishing first in the women's Boulder semi-final with 84.5 points.[26] At the end of the Boulder Cup Season, Sanders placed third with 3,290 points, despite missing one event in Curitiba. The 17-year-old reached four finals, placed outside the top 10 only once—in Prague—and collected gold in Keqiao, silver in Bern, and bronze in Salt Lake City to complete her medal collection. 2025 is her best Boulder cup season career finish.[27]
At the 2025 IFSC Lead World Cup in Madrid, she won her first gold medal in Lead, topping the final route and finishing ahead of Laura Rogora and Brooke Raboutou. The result made her the first American woman to win World Cup events in both Lead and Boulder.[5]
World Cup Results
IFSC World Cup Medals
Bouldering
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Lead
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
IFSC World Cup Podiums
| Year | Event | City | Discipline | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | IFSC World Cup | Madrid, Spain | Lead | 1st |
| 2025 | IFSC World Cup | Chamonix, France | Lead | 2nd |
| 2025 | IFSC World Cup | Bern, Switzerland | Boulder | 2nd |
| 2025 | IFSC World Cup | Salt Lake City, USA | Boulder | 3rd |
| 2025 | IFSC World Cup | Wujiang, CHN | Boulder | 3rd |
| 2025 | IFSC World Cup | Keqiao, CHN | Boulder | 1st |
| 2024 | IFSC World Cup | Seoul | Boulder | 1st |
| 2024 | IFSC World Cup | Seoul | Lead | 3rd |
| 2024 | IFSC World Cup | Koper | Boulder | 3rd |
| 2024 | IFSC World Cup | Innsbruck | Boulder | 3rd |
Rankings
World Cup
World Championships
Youth World Championships
| Discipline | 2021 Youth B[31] |
2022 Youth B[32] |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | 1 | 17 |
| Boulder | 1 | 1 |
| Combined | 1 | - |
Notable ascents
Sanders has made several outdoor ascents of sport climbing routes at grade 5.13 (7c+) or higher in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, including a flash of Omaha Beach at 5.14a (8b+), in October 2021.
Redpointed routes
5.14a (8b+)
- Omaha Beach, Red River Gorge, flashed, October 2021[33]
- God's Own Throne, Red River Gorge, October 2020[34]
5.13c (8a+)
- The Madness, Red River Gorge, October 2021[33]
Personal life
Sanders attends an online learning program within the Grapevine–Colleyville Independent School District, which provides the flexibility needed to pursue her elite climbing career while continuing her education.[35][36] The arrangement has allowed her to travel for international competitions and USA Climbing events, including senior-level tournaments, while maintaining her academic progress.
