Janja Garnbret is, the figures show, the best climber in the history of sport climbing, lead and boulder, but she failed to make the final in front of a home crowd in Kranj this weekend, and thus was able to enjoy the event from a new perspective. The women’s lead was won by South Korea’s Chaehyun Seo, with silver and bronze taken by Jessica Pilz (Austria) and Lučka Rakovec (Slovenia), respectively. Other Slovene’s in the top 20 were Mia Krampl (7^th), Tjaša Kalan (10^th), Lana Skušek (11^th), Janja Garnbret (13^th), and Mina Markovič (15^th).

With regard to the men, the event was won by Adam Ondra, followed by Kai Harada and Alberto Ginés López. The highest ranked Slovene was Luka Potočar, in 13^th place.

Janja Garnbret is the best sport climber in the world, and the best in the history of the young discipline, having already won thirteen World titles, with seven World Cup series and six World Championships, as well as making a clean sweep of a whole bouldering season. And while Garnbret’s dominance is unique, she’s far from the only Slovene who regularly appears high in the rankings.

Climbing is thus a Slovenian pursuit, and one that, thanks to its sporting incarnation is now easy to watch, understand and enjoy. While you can do so on TV and online, with the IFSC maintaining an excellent YouTube channel, this coming weekend, 28 – 29 September, you can watch live and in person as athletes with rare strength, flexibility and daring make their ascents.

The occasion is the ISFC World Cup Lead event, held on Saturday and Sunday at the Sport hall Zlato polje, Kidriceva 55, 4000 Kranj. Entrance is free on Saturday, while on Sunday tickets are €12 for the semi-finals and €20 for the finals, with more details here.

Stuttgart was climbing’s world capital this past weekend as it held ‘Adidas Rockstars 2019’, one of the most important climbing competitions. This event has a unique concept: it has four rounds (qualification, semi-finals, finals and super-finals) instead of the usual three. Moreover, live-music is played at the venue, the Porsche-Arena, by a rock band. This combination creates an outstanding show for both fanatics and casual viewers of sport climbing.

The first rounds at Adidas Rockstars are similar to IFSC competitions: in the qualification round athletes (separated in women’s and men’s categories) have four different boulders and five minutes to top (finish the route) each of them. The best 20 athletes progress to THE semi-finals, where once again they will have five problems to top. Here’s where the competition differs from usual championships: only six climbers will make it to the first round of the finals, after which the best three will compete for a place in the super-finals. In this final round, two athletes will climb an identical route on two walls at the same time, and whoever tops it first will win the competition.

At this high-level event, climbers can only participate by being invited by the organisation or by winning “Ticket to Rockstars” competition. This year Slovenia had 10 representatives, being the country – tied up with Japan – bringing the most athletes to the tournament.

There was no surprise at the women's competition to see that Janja Garnbret made it to both finals and super-finals. As a matter of fact, she was the only female competitor to top all three routes in the finals, flashing (to need only one attempt to get to the top) two of them. However, Garnbret got stuck in one hold at the super-final and Futaba Ito won the gold medal.

After an impressive performance in the semi-finals, Lučka Rakoveč made it to the next round and finished in 6th place after achieving one zone at the first boulder. There was no such luck for the rest of the Slovene women, as Mia Krampl (Lead Silver Medal winner at Hachioji World Championships), Julja Kruder and Urška Repušič (European Boulder Champion) finished in 12th place after a brutal semifinal round.

In the men’s competition, although all of the Slovenes made it to the semi-finals, only Gregor Vezonik could progress to the final, finishing his competition in 6th place. This round had some interesting boulders to top, with only the winner of the competition, Yoshiyuki Ogata (who has also competed in Slovenian National Championships) topping all of them and claiming the win.

As for the rest of the Slovene men, the 2018 Bouldering World Cup and also 2013 & 2018 Adidas Rockstar’s winner Jernej Kruder, could only make it to 12th place. Zan Sudar, Domen Škofic and Anze Preharc finished in 7th, 14th and 16th place respectively.

After this intense weekend, sport climbing will take a short break before next IFSC Lead World Cup, which will take place in Slovenia (Kranj) on September 28th and 29th. You can buy tickets here.

STA, 20 August 2019 - Janja Garnbret has claimed her third gold medal at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan's Hachioji, securing the title in the combined, an Olympic discipline, on Tuesday. The 20-year-old Slovenian is the first ever climber to complete a hat trick in a single championships.

Garnbret had already secured gold in the women's lead discipline on Thursday after defending the title of bouldering world champion a week ago. Her sixth world championship gold medal overall makes her the most successful athlete in the history of the sport.

Combining speed, bouldering and lead, the new discipline has been created especially for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the first time that climbing will be included in the Olympic Games.

Podium winners in the event are determined by the lowest product of the climbers' ranks after three rounds in each of the three disciplines. Garnbret placed sixth in speed, 4th in boulders and top in the lead, which gave her 12 points.

Silver went to Japanese Akiyo Noguchi, who scored 21, and bronze to Briton Shauna Coxsey, who scored 42.

Garnbert entered the final stage, the lead, from 4th spot, with Coxsey in the lead ahead of Noguchi and Pole Aleksandra Miroslaw, who did best in speed. Garnbret made it to the top, while Coxsey and Noguchi failed.

"It's amazing to have three gold medals at this world championships. I had a lot of fun. I didn't have the best start in speed but I really enjoyed the whole competition," Garnbret said in her first comment.

Despite signs of fatigue after nine days of competition, which reflected in her performance in speed and her struggling on the first boulder, she enjoyed "all the boulders. In the lead I showed what I have and I'm really happy."

The latest achievement brings Slovenia's tally of medals at sports climbing world championships to 18. Another Slovenian medallist in Japan, Mia Krampl took silver in the lead discipline, trumped only by Garnbret.

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here as a Slovene-English dual text.

Janja Garnbret Prva Plezalka S Petimi Zlatimi Medaljami

Janja Garnbret First Climber With Five Gold Medals

Written by Katarina Bulatović, translated by JL Flanner & G Translate

»Nepredstavljivo je, kaj mi je uspelo v tej sezoni,« je dejala Janja Garnbret.

“It is inconceivable what I have achieved this season,” said Janja Garnbret.

Svetovna prvakinja je postala še v težavnostnem plezanju.

The World Champion became even more confident in climbing.

Uspešna je bila tudi Mia Krampl, ki je dosegla drugo mesto.

Mia Krampl was also successful, finishing second.

Že dva dni prej je Janja Garnbret navijače razveselila z osvojitvijo zlate kolajne v balvanskem plezanju.

Two days earlier, Janja Garnbret had already been cheered by fans for the gold medal in bouldering.

V tej disciplini je kot prva športnica na svetu drugič zapored ubranila naslov svetovne prvakinje.

In this discipline, she is the first athlete in the world to defend the title of world champions for the second time.

»Oba naslova mi res veliko, veliko pomenita in res sem vesela, da sem obdržala mirno glavo,« je po osvojitvi naslova dejala plezalka.

"Both titles really mean a lot to me, and I'm really happy to keep my head calm," said the climber after winning the title.

»Jaz samo uživam in plezam tako, kot znam,« je po osvojitvi dveh zlatih medalj na Japonskem dejala mlada Korošica.

"I just enjoy the climb as I know it," said the young girl from Korošica after winning two gold medals in Japan.

Jutri se bo potegovala še za tretje odličje na tem prvenstvu.

Tomorrow she will compete for a third in this championship.

V nedeljo se je že uvrstila tudi na olimpijske igre, ki bodo prihodnje leto v Tokiu.

On Sunday she also made it to the Olympics, which will be in Tokyo next year

Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, while all our dual texts can be found here.

STA, 15 August 2019 - Slovenia swept the women's lead discipline event at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan's Hachioji on Thursday with Janja Garnbret taking another gold and Mia Krampl silver.

This is the second gold medal for Garnbret at this championships after she defended the title of bouldering world champion on Tuesday, and her fifth world championship gold medal overall.

"I was a little nervous before, because I didn't know what to expect, the route was bumpy and you just had to climb, so you could see in my climbing I was a little bit nervous, but I did all I could, so I was happy with my performance. And that I've won again, twice at this championships, is just amazing," the 20-year old champion said.

The home crowd cheered Ai Mori, who placed third, after the 19-year old Slovenian Krampl, who won her first medal at major competitions. Her only podium so far was third place in bouldering at the World Cup meet in Munich in May this year.

The latest feats have put Slovenia's tally of medals at climbing world championships to 17.

STA, 13 August 2019 - Slovenian climbing phenomenon Janja Garnbret has successfully defended her title of bouldering World Champion, taking gold at the championships in Japan's Hachioji on Tuesday. Silver went to Japanese veteran Akiyo Noguchi and bronze to British climber Shauna Coxsey.

The 20-year-old, who won all six bouldering events of this year's World Cup season, has become the first female climber with two consecutive bouldering World Championship golds.

"Last year was really special, as that was my first title, but this year things were a bit more intense and particular because of what I had managed to achieve during the entire bouldering season. I'm truly happy I was able to keep a cool head and that I achieved this," Garnbret commented.

This is already Garnbret's forth gold and fifth medal in total at World Championships, while Slovenia now has a 15 such medals.

Garnbret is meanwhile far from done in Hachioji, as she will also be defending her World Champion title in combined, the discipline with which sport climbing will be making its Olympic debut in Tokyo next year.

She is moreover among the favourites in lead, having won silver at last year's World Championships in Innsbruck.

All our stories on sport climbing are here, while those on mountaineering are here

We’re huge fans of Janja Garnbret at TSN, the 20-year-old Slovene who’s already won more world championship events than any other athlete, widely seen as the best sport climber in the world, and a hot tip for next year’s Olympics, when climbing will make its debut.

It’s thus a delight, but no surprise, to learn that Garnbret – who excels at both Lead and Bouldering – is among the ten finalists for the Sportswoman of the Year award for 2019, given by the New York-based Women's Sports Foundation since 1980.

Other women on the list are the American alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin and artistic gymnastic champion Simone Biles. Others in the individual sport category also include American track and field athlete Ajee Wilson, American boxer Claressa Shields, American mountain biker Kate Courtney, American Paralympic swimmer Rebecca Meyers, Paralympic triathlete Allysa Seely, British auto racer Jamie Chadwick and South Korean golfer Jin Young Ko.

Anyone can now vote for Janja Garnbret, seen in action below, at the related website, right up until 2 August in Slovenia, or 3 August 6:59am CET. Multiple votes for Garnbret, or other finalists, are possible if you have multiple email addresses.

The winners, one from an individual sport and another from a team sport, will be announced in New York on 16 October.

You can see all our stories and videos of Janja Garnbret here

After last week’s shocking 9^th place finish Janja Garnbret did much better this week, finishing 2^nd in Briançon, France. In first place was Korea’s Chaehyun Seo, while in third came Japan’s Natsuki Tani. Two other Slovenian women made the top 8, with Mia Krampl 4^th and Vita Lukan 7^th.

Turning to the men’s competition, all three medals were won by Japanese climbers, with the gold going to Hidemasa Nishida, followed by Hiroto Shimizu and Shuta Tanaka. The highest ranked Slovene with Domen Škofic, in 7^th place.

The weekend put the Japanese in first place in the team rankings, with 375 points, Slovenia second (224), and the USA third (179)

More details results can be found at the IFSC site.

By now fans know the routine – Janja Garnbret will come out on top of the Lead and Bouldering events, with her peers competing for second and third places. But this weekend saw a shock result in Chamonix, France, as the 20-year old Slovene, who already has more victories than any other competitor in the sport’s history, reached just 9^th place in the semi-finals, not even making it through to the final round. With Garnbret watching the top place on the podium went to Korea’s Chaehyun Seo, followed by China’s YueTong Zhang and Austria’s Jessica Pilz. The highest ranked Slovene was Lučka Rakovec, in 7^th place, while Mia Krampl was 11^th and Vita Lučkan 12^th.

The men’s event was won by the Czech Adam Ondra, followed by Germany’s Alexander Megos and Austria’s Jakob Schubert. The top Slovene men in Chamonix were 18^th placed Martin Bergant and 20^th placed Domen Škofic.