After the thrill of yesterday’s speed races where the men's world record was broken twice, the bouldering discipline took centre stage in the American city.

Fujii laid down a marker ahead of tomorrow’s semi-finals when he finished first in qualifying with five tops and five zones.

Narasaki - who is set to compete at this year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - achieved the same score yet closed the round in second due to a higher number of attempts.

A further four Olympians will join the men’s semi-final line-up tomorrow, with Alexander Megos of Germany, American Nathaniel Coleman, Canada’s Sean McColl and Aleksey Rubtsov of Russia also putting on strong performances in the qualification round.

France’s Mejdi Schalck - who claimed silver at last weekend’s IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City - claimed four tops to finish in joint eighth with Belgium’s Nicolas Collin.

Britain’s Alex Waterhouse and Zach Galla of the US each qualified for their first World Cup semi-final, closing the opening round in seventh and 12th place respectively.

The women’s bouldering qualification event saw Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret and Japan’s Miho Nonaka finish atop the rankings with five tops and five zones each.

Five Japanese athletes also advanced with Nonaka, Futaba Ito, Akiyo Noguchi, Ruy Nakagawa, and Mao Nakamura all sealing a place in the top 20.

Natalia Grossman came third and was among four Americans to reach the semi-finals as Brooke Raboutou, Kyra Condie and Kylie Cullen also made the cut.

There will also be athletes from Italy, France, Serbia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the next round of the competition.

Competition is due to conclude tomorrow with the men’s and women’s bouldering finals.