diff --git a/admin/src/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts b/admin/src/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts
index 75991ff2..2de96934 100644
--- a/admin/src/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts
+++ b/admin/src/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ async function proxyRequest(req: NextRequest) {
   const contentType = req.headers.get("content-type");
   if (contentType) headers.set("Content-Type", contentType);
 
+  // Forward real client IP so backend throttler can rate-limit per user,
+  // not per proxy container. nginx sets X-Forwarded-For; we pass it through.
+  const clientIp =
+    req.headers.get("x-forwarded-for") ?? req.headers.get("x-real-ip") ?? "";
+  if (clientIp) headers.set("x-forwarded-for", clientIp);
+
   const init: RequestInit = { method: req.method, headers };
 
   if (req.method !== "GET" && req.method !== "HEAD") {
diff --git a/backend/src/common/utils/client-ip.util.ts b/backend/src/common/utils/client-ip.util.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f2f6033
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/common/utils/client-ip.util.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import type { Request } from 'express';
+
+/**
+ * Extract real client IP from a request, respecting reverse-proxy headers.
+ * Order of trust: `X-Forwarded-For` (first hop) → `X-Real-IP` → `req.ip` →
+ * connection remote address. Returns 'unknown' if all fail (still usable as
+ * a Redis key — just dedups all anonymous-source traffic together).
+ *
+ * NOTE: We don't enable Express `trust proxy` globally because it would
+ * affect every module's `req.ip`. Reading the header directly here is
+ * scoped to each guard/controller that uses this utility.
+ *
+ * Deployment context:
+ *   User → nginx → Next.js proxy → backend
+ * nginx sets X-Forwarded-For; Next.js proxy forwards it verbatim.
+ * The first entry in the header chain is the real client IP.
+ */
+export function getClientIp(req: Request): string {
+  const xff = req.headers['x-forwarded-for'];
+  if (typeof xff === 'string' && xff.length > 0) {
+    return xff.split(',')[0].trim();
+  }
+  if (Array.isArray(xff) && xff.length > 0) {
+    return xff[0].split(',')[0].trim();
+  }
+  const xri = req.headers['x-real-ip'];
+  if (typeof xri === 'string' && xri.length > 0) return xri.trim();
+
+  return req.ip || req.socket?.remoteAddress || 'unknown';
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/modules/articles/utils/client-ip.util.ts b/backend/src/modules/articles/utils/client-ip.util.ts
index 22018922..5b7ba4dc 100644
--- a/backend/src/modules/articles/utils/client-ip.util.ts
+++ b/backend/src/modules/articles/utils/client-ip.util.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,2 @@
-import type { Request } from 'express';
-
-/**
- * Extract real client IP from a request, respecting reverse-proxy headers.
- * Order of trust: `X-Forwarded-For` (first hop) → `X-Real-IP` → `req.ip` →
- * connection remote address. Returns 'unknown' if all fail (still usable as
- * a Redis key — just dedups all anonymous-source traffic together).
- *
- * NOTE: We don't enable Express `trust proxy` globally because it would
- * affect every module's `req.ip`. Reading the header directly here is
- * scoped to articles' rate-limit logic only.
- */
-export function getClientIp(req: Request): string {
-  const xff = req.headers['x-forwarded-for'];
-  if (typeof xff === 'string' && xff.length > 0) {
-    return xff.split(',')[0].trim();
-  }
-  if (Array.isArray(xff) && xff.length > 0) {
-    return xff[0].split(',')[0].trim();
-  }
-  const xri = req.headers['x-real-ip'];
-  if (typeof xri === 'string' && xri.length > 0) return xri.trim();
-
-  return req.ip || req.socket?.remoteAddress || 'unknown';
-}
+// Re-export from shared common utility — logic lives in src/common/utils/client-ip.util.ts
+export { getClientIp } from '../../../common/utils/client-ip.util';
diff --git a/backend/src/modules/race-result/guards/real-ip-throttler.guard.ts b/backend/src/modules/race-result/guards/real-ip-throttler.guard.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..22729ac9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/modules/race-result/guards/real-ip-throttler.guard.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { ThrottlerGuard } from '@nestjs/throttler';
+import type { Request } from 'express';
+import { getClientIp } from '../../../common/utils/client-ip.util';
+
+/**
+ * ThrottlerGuard override that extracts the real client IP from
+ * `X-Forwarded-For` / `X-Real-IP` headers instead of `req.ip`.
+ *
+ * Required because requests arrive through the Next.js proxy
+ * (frontend / admin), which means `req.ip` always resolves to the
+ * container IP of that proxy — not the end-user's IP.  Using this
+ * guard ensures rate limits are enforced per real user, not per proxy.
+ *
+ * The Next.js proxy routes forward the original `x-forwarded-for` header
+ * that nginx injected, so the first hop in that header is the real client IP.
+ */
+@Injectable()
+export class RealIpThrottlerGuard extends ThrottlerGuard {
+  protected async getTracker(req: Request): Promise<string> {
+    return getClientIp(req);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.controller.ts b/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.controller.ts
index 1c54bdae..78a8d9a1 100644
--- a/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.controller.ts
+++ b/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.controller.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ import {
   ApiConsumes,
   ApiBody,
 } from '@nestjs/swagger';
-import { Throttle, ThrottlerGuard } from '@nestjs/throttler';
+import { Throttle } from '@nestjs/throttler';
+import { RealIpThrottlerGuard } from './guards/real-ip-throttler.guard';
 import {
   FileInterceptor,
   FileFieldsInterceptor,
@@ -455,7 +456,7 @@ export class RaceResultController {
   // Rate-limited per IP to protect against scraping + brute-force cache busting.
 
   @Post('result-image/upload-bg')
-  @UseGuards(ThrottlerGuard)
+  @UseGuards(RealIpThrottlerGuard)
   @ApiOperation({
     summary: 'Upload a custom background photo, get back a photoId for reuse',
     description:
@@ -503,7 +504,7 @@ export class RaceResultController {
   }
 
   @Get('result-image/:raceId/:bib')
-  @UseGuards(ThrottlerGuard)
+  @UseGuards(RealIpThrottlerGuard)
   // Generous limit — a single modal open = 7 preview requests (6 thumbs + 1
   // main), and toggling gradient/template bumps the token → fresh requests.
   // 120/min allows ~15 modal interactions per minute per IP before throttling.
@@ -571,7 +572,7 @@ export class RaceResultController {
   }
 
   @Post('result-image/:raceId/:bib')
-  @UseGuards(ThrottlerGuard)
+  @UseGuards(RealIpThrottlerGuard)
   // @Throttle({ default: { ttl: 60_000, limit: 20 } })
   @ApiOperation({
     summary: 'Generate full-res result image for an athlete (S3-cached)',
@@ -731,7 +732,7 @@ export class RaceResultController {
   }
 
   @Get('badges/:raceId/:bib')
-  @UseGuards(ThrottlerGuard)
+  @UseGuards(RealIpThrottlerGuard)
   // @Throttle({ default: { ttl: 60_000, limit: 60 } })
   @ApiOperation({
     summary: 'Get badges (PB / Podium / Sub-X / Ultra / Streak) for an athlete',
@@ -766,7 +767,7 @@ export class RaceResultController {
   }
 
   @Post('share-count/:raceId')
-  @UseGuards(ThrottlerGuard)
+  @UseGuards(RealIpThrottlerGuard)
   // @Throttle({ default: { ttl: 60_000, limit: 20 } })
   @ApiOperation({
     summary:
@@ -783,7 +784,7 @@ export class RaceResultController {
   // ─── Analytics (D-1) + Admin stats (D-3) ──────────────────────
 
   @Post('result-image-share')
-  @UseGuards(ThrottlerGuard)
+  @UseGuards(RealIpThrottlerGuard)
   // @Throttle({ default: { ttl: 60_000, limit: 30 } })
   @ApiOperation({
     summary:
diff --git a/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.module.ts b/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.module.ts
index 6cf2689a..93f060f6 100644
--- a/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.module.ts
+++ b/backend/src/modules/race-result/race-result.module.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { BadgeService } from './services/badge.service';
 import { RaceSyncCron } from './services/race-sync.cron';
 import { ShareEventService } from './services/share-event.service';
 import { ShareNurtureCron } from './services/share-nurture.cron';
+import { RealIpThrottlerGuard } from './guards/real-ip-throttler.guard';
 import { RacesModule } from '../races/races.module';
 import { UploadModule } from '../upload/upload.module';
 
@@ -28,14 +29,15 @@ import { UploadModule } from '../upload/upload.module';
     // Module-scoped throttler so @Throttle decorators on result-image /
     // share-count endpoints apply without colliding with other modules.
     // Default cap is an umbrella; per-endpoint @Throttle() decorators override.
-
-    // temporatyly disable throttler to unblock sync while we investigate performance issues
-    // ThrottlerModule.forRoot([
-    //   {
-    //     ttl: 60_000,
-    //     limit: 60*20,
-    //   },
-    // ]),
+    // RealIpThrottlerGuard (registered in providers) overrides getTracker() to
+    // extract the real client IP from X-Forwarded-For instead of req.ip, since
+    // all requests arrive via the Next.js proxy container.
+    ThrottlerModule.forRoot([
+      {
+        ttl: 60_000,
+        limit: 60 * 20,
+      },
+    ]),
     RacesModule,
     UploadModule,
   ],
diff --git a/frontend/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts b/frontend/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts
index e5bfe60a..04df635e 100644
--- a/frontend/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts
+++ b/frontend/app/api/[...proxy]/route.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@ async function proxyRequest(req: NextRequest) {
   const contentType = req.headers.get("content-type");
   if (contentType) headers.set("Content-Type", contentType);
 
+  // Forward real client IP so backend throttler can rate-limit per user,
+  // not per proxy container. nginx sets X-Forwarded-For; we pass it through.
+  const clientIp =
+    req.headers.get("x-forwarded-for") ?? req.headers.get("x-real-ip") ?? "";
+  if (clientIp) headers.set("x-forwarded-for", clientIp);
+
   const init: RequestInit = { method: req.method, headers };
 
   if (req.method !== "GET" && req.method !== "HEAD") {