At the German Lead Championships on October 11 and 12, Yannick Nagel and Anna Apel from Team MANTLE stood at the very top of the podium.
At the end of the 2025 DAV competition season, German athletes were once again going all out at the German Lead Championships. At the event in the DAV Neu-Ulm section, 33 women and 32 men from all over Germany competed for the national title. In the end, these two were successful: Yannick Nagel and Anna Apel from Team MANTLE. Congratulations!
Qualification: Favorites emerge
Yannick Nagel was already at the front in the men's qualification. As one of four athletes, the man from Mannheim topped both qualification routes – also Florian Schweiger climbed his way to 5th place with a top in the qualification, followed by MANTLE teammates Max Dinger and Finn Altemöller.
Among the women, Anna Apel also stood out early as a favorite and topped both routes of the qualification as one of two athletes. MANTLE athletes Paula-Mayer-Vorfelder, Martina Demmel and Alisa Strigo also advanced to the semifinals in the top half of the field.
Semifinals: Head-to-head race for a spot in the final
While the focus of the qualification routes was primarily on endurance, the semifinals were significantly more powerful and dynamic. Yannick Nagel advanced to the final in first place with the only top on the demanding semifinal route. Finn Altemöller also climbed his way to fourth place among the eight best men with an impressive performance. Florian Schweiger and Max Dinger missed out on a spot in the final, but still achieved solid results in the semifinals with 11th and 14th place, respectively.
Among the women, the field also split in the semifinals: Anna Apel was able to further extend her status as a favorite and advanced to the final in 1st place. Paula Mayer-Vorfelder also climbed her way into the final of her first Lead German Championship with 6th place. Alisa Strigo and Martina Demmel maintained their placement in the top 15 of German lead climbing with 10th and 13th place, respectively.
Second national title for Yannick Nagel, third for Anna Apel
In the final, Yannick Nagel and Anna Apel finally overcame the competition. Both were the last to start on the wall, where Yannick climbed five moves further than the highpoint of runner-up Erik Pollak, with a score of 46. The 19-year-old soldier-athlete started regularly in Lead World Cups this year and was now able to show once again that he can compete at the top here at home in Germany. This is Yannick's second national title in lead since 2022.
Anna Apel made things a little more exciting in the final than in the semifinals, where she had still managed to build a ten-point lead over Ronja Witt. Despite her long international competition season, the 20-year-old from Munich climbed her way to gold at the German Championships with a score of 54+, just ahead of silver medalist Ronja Witt (53+). Anna thus defends her lead title from the previous year and secures her third German national title since 2024, when she also won gold in bouldering.
Strong performance by Finn Altemöller and Paula Mayer-Vorfelder
With Finn Altemöller (5th place) and Paula Mayer-Vorfelder (6th place), two more MANTLE athletes were among the top at the German Championships. The 19-year-old Finn from Frechen had already won the NRW State Championships in bouldering this year – he took silver at the German Youth Bouldering Cup and bronze at the Youth Lead Cup. At 15, Paula was the youngest competitor in the field and this year participated in the Lead German Championships for the first time. The German Youth Champion in lead and youth runner-up in bouldering showed in Neu-Ulm that she also feels very comfortable in the adult field.
Season finale for Team MANTLE
The German Lead Championships mark the end of the competition season for the athletes. Team MANTLE wishes everyone a relaxing end to the season and lots of fun on the rock, on vacation, or in training!
All Team MANTLE placements at the German Lead Championships:
Yannick Nagel (1st place)
Finn Altemöller (5th place)
Flo Schweiger (11th place)
Max Dinger (14th place)
Anna Apel (1st place)
Paula Mayer-Vorfelder (6th place)
Alisa Strigo (10th place)
Martina Demmel (13th place)
