Natalia Grossman of the United States won her third consecutive women's boulder IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City ©Daniel Gajda/IFSC

Home favourite Natalia Grossman chalked up her third consecutive women's boulder victory on the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup series in Salt Lake City.

Grossman was seeded fourth behind Israel's Ayala Kerem, fellow American Brooke Raboutou and Olympic silver medallist Miho Nonaka of Japan after the semi-finals at Pioneer Park.

However, the world champion once again delivered in the final, and was the only athlete who reached four tops, including a flash on the challenging fourth boulder.

The win extended Grossman's lead at the top of the boulder World Cup standings to 1,320 points, with her total at 3,805 as she bids for a second consecutive overall victory.

"I had no idea what to expect coming into this weekend, I wanted to make another back-to-back happen, but I wasn’t sure," she said after her latest triumph.

"There were so many points I wanted to give up in this round, I thought it was over after the first boulder, and it was hard to stay positive, but I made it."

Nonaka placed second in Utah's capital, recording three tops and four zones, with Raboutou third after achieving the same result in one more attempt.

Japan's Futaba Ito was fourth with three tops and four zones, with boulder World Cup final debutants Seo Chae-hyun of South Korea and Kerem placing fifth and sixth, respectively, with two tops and four zones.

The men's boulder gold went to last season's World Cup winner Yoshiyuki Ogata, who became the third Japanese climber to taste victory on this year's circuit.

Japan's Yoshiyuki Ogata, centre, won the men's boulder IFSC World Cup at the expense of Slovenia's Anže Peharc, left, by virtue of his superior semi-final ranking ©Daniel Gajda/IFSC
Japan's Yoshiyuki Ogata, centre, won the men's boulder IFSC World Cup at the expense of Slovenia's Anže Peharc, left, by virtue of his superior semi-final ranking ©Daniel Gajda/IFSC

He leads the overall standings by 855 points over compatriot and world champion Kokoro Fujii.

Ogata was second in the semi-final behind Fujii.

In the final, Ogata and Slovenia's Anže Peharc both notched four tops and four zones in the same number of attempts, with the Japanese climber coming out on top by virtue of his better semi-final ranking.

"This year I placed second in the first World Cup, then again third in Seoul, and second here last week, I was dreaming of taking the top of the podium and I’m very happy it finally happened," Ogata said afterwards.

Fujii took bronze with four tops and four zones on a higher number of attempts.

Chon Jong-won of South Korea was fourth with three tops and four zones, followed by Japan's Rei Kawamata with three and three, and World Cup final debutant Ross Fulkerson of the United States with two and four.

The penultimate boulder event of the season is due to be held in Brixen in Italy from June 10 to 12.