Natalia Grossman Takes Gold in Stunning Post-Injury Comeback

Six months after undergoing ACL and meniscus surgery, Natalia Grossman returned to competition over the weekend. After over half a year of injury and rehab, the Salt Lake City-based climber proved she’s still got what it takes, winning Gold in Women’s Lead at the North American Cup (NAC) finals on August 24.

The event took place near downtown Salt Lake, in the lot adjacent to the USA Climbing headquarters. With temps in the mid-80s, over a hundred spectators donned sun hats and made shade with umbrellas, while the competitors burned through chalk. Many came to cheer on a few outdoor crushers and local legends. Among them: Grossman, Michaela Kiersch, Kai Lightner, and Nathaniel Coleman. Chris Sharma, who is considering a path to competing in the 2028 Olympics, had debated entering this comp, but decided to wait until another qualifying event in 2026. The August 2025 NAC consisted of men’s and women’s competitions in both Lead and Speed.

Grossman’s golden comeback

After sustaining a torn ACL and meniscus in her left knee—as well as an MCL sprain—at the World Cup in Salt Lake City last spring, Grossman has been documenting her journey of undergoing surgery, then training to climb past her injury. At the NAC on Sunday, Grossman climbed with composure and finesse, even performing a drop knee with her injured knee. She had been particularly apprehensive about the run-and-jump bouldery start—a move she hadn’t performed in six-and-a-half months due to her injury.

“In isolation, we got a route map and seeing the run and jump in the picture, it looked so high!” she told Climbing. “After seeing it in person, it was much smaller and the risk of falling seemed very low. I was pretty happy to stick it, and being in finals was already a huge win.”

The 22-year-old athlete even cracked a smile or two while competing; Grossman’s mantra is “smile and fight.” She fell while trying to make the third clip from the top, but reached the high point on the route among the women’s competitors. Previously, Grossman competed in the 2024 Olympics and has won 11 gold medals at International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cups. Grossman’s next comp will be the YETI National Championships in February 2026.

After her win in Salt Lake, Grossman reflected, “My recovery is nowhere near over, but I’m in it for the long haul and excited for the next opportunity I get to compete.”

Legends light up Lead: Kiersch, Lightner, and Coleman

The first woman to climb both V15 and 5.15, Michaela Kiersch, who also lives in Salt Lake, ultimately ranked fourth in finals, after placing second in semi-finals earlier in the day. Kiersch came into the finals with a higher score than Grossman in the semis. Prior to the event, Kiersch said that competing would be “a great opportunity to have some fun and challenge myself in ways that I haven’t in a while.”

Nathaniel Coleman was also vying for the podium, but didn’t make it out of semifinals. This Salt Lake local has been recently more focused on outdoor bouldering, putting up the first ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked (V17) last December. Next year, he hopes to make Team USA for Lead, though before this past weekend, he hadn’t entered a USA Climbing comp since 2023. He took twenty-third in the NAC semifinals.

Lightner, who recently shared the story behind his first ascent of Death of Villains (5.15a), took sixteenth in semifinals after his foot slipped. This was his first time competing at a USA Climbing event since 2019. Prior to that, he won 12 national titles, six Pan-American titles, and five Youth World Championship medals.

“I’ve always loved the energy of comps, so I figured it was time to throw my shoes back on and have some fun with it,” Lightner said before the event.

Both Coleman and Lightner showed up in the afternoon to spectate the finals.

The Men’s Lead winner, and more NAC results

Meanwhile, in the Men’s Lead comp, dark horse Sergey Lakhno dominated, winning gold. The Seattle-based climber is a member of Team USA and previously took gold in Lead in two North American Cups last year and first place at the National Team Trials in the spring. This weekend, the 19-year-old handily won the men’s qualifiers and semifinals. In September, he’ll compete in the IFSC World Cup in Koper, Slovenia, followed by the IFSC World Championships in Seoul.

Cruz Padilla, who also topped the route, took second for men’s, while Nathan Sato placed third. In the Women’s Lead discipline, Zoe Yi came in as a close second, and Analise Van Hoang took Bronze.

In Speed, Isis Rothfork took gold for women with a time of 6.87 seconds. Logan Miner took gold in Men’s Speed with a time of 5.78 seconds. A youth Speed comp also took place over the weekend for 15-16 year olds; Alexis Prokopuk took gold in the women’s and Griffin Smith took gold in the men’s. Full results from the August 2025 NAC can be found at USA Climbing.

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