STA, 14 August 2022 - Janja Garnbret triumphed in the women's bouldering competition on Sunday to win her second title at European Championships in sport climbing in Munich after taking the title in lead on Saturday.

Considering her performance this far, the 23-year-old Slovenian Olympic and world champion is well set to win her third gold in Munich with the Olympic combined discipline due here on Wednesday. She already won the European title in the discipline in 2017.

Despite injuring her right-hand index finger in the lead final, Garnbret made an excellent showing in the boulder semis-finals and finals, dominating the event throughout.

In the semis she was the only one to solve all four boulder challenges and the only to finish the route on the second boulder.

In the finals she failed to solve the first challenge, reaching the second zone to place third after the first bolder. However, she reached the top of the next two boulders on first attempts to take the lead and it was clear the title was hears even before she attempted the fourth bolder, which like ker rivals she failed to tackle.

"The final didn't go according to my plans. It started pretty bad with the first boulder, which I failed to solve. I didn't know how many did, I thought everyone did except for me," Garnbret commented for RTV Slovenija.

However, she stayed positive: "I enjoyed myself, didn't panic in the least. I have quite some competition experience and I know anything can happen in the end.

"I did great on the next two boulders, reached the top on first attempt. The last boulder was rather difficult, I know I could have climbed it but it wasn't until the last ten seconds that I figured out the right sequence. Still, I'm super happy," said Garnbret.

Home favourite Hannah Meul won silver and French Oriane Bertone won bronze.

STA, 11 July 2022 - Slovenia's best climber Janja Garnbret has won her third World Cup lead event in a row as she dominated the event in Chamonix, France on Sunday to affirm her role as the favourite for the coming World Championship.

Already the most successful climber of all times, she now has 35 World Cup victories, of which 21 in the lead event and 14 in bouldering.

"I climbed smoothly in the final. When I know that girls competing before me have reached the top I can be quite nervous, but this time I was super calm and relaxed," she said.

STA, 3 July 2022 - Climber Janja Garnbret continued her winning streak on Saturday, taking first place in women's lead event in Villars, Switzerland, earning her 50th world cup podium and 34th first place.

The Olympic gold medallist was the only climber in male and female competition to make it to the top of both climbing walls in the semifinals and finals at yesterday's competition.

The win comes a week after her victorious return following a nearly three-month break. Last week, she became the only climber in the world with 33 world cup wins, further improving this distinction this weekend.

STA, 26 June 2022 - Olympic gold medallist Janja Garnbret won the World Cup lead event in Innsbruck on Sunday, becoming the first competitor to notch up 33 World Cup wins in climbing.

The win comes after a long break - she last competed in early April - during which she eschewed bouldering events to focus on lead, in particular the European Championship in August.

The plan did not exactly work out since she got Covid after the previous World Cup event, but it appears she nevertheless got in shape.

While she did not reach the top, her score of 39+ was enough to beat the American Brooke Raboutou and the South Korean Chaehyun Seo, both of whom scored 27+.

Three more lead events are on the calendar before the European Championship.

STA, 10 April 2022 - Olympic gold medallist Janja Garnbret has opened the climbing season with a convincing victory in bouldering in Meiringen, a record 32nd World Cup win for the 23-year-old.

The only one to have climbed all 13 boulders, Garnbret said after the win last night that this was a privilege because "every event is a story onto itself. If you win all the events in the previous season, this does not mean you will win them all this season."

The world's dominant climber for the past several season, Garnbret made only a short appearance on the World Cup circuit. She has decided to leave out the next four bouldering events and will return to the World Cup in June, when the lead competition gets under way.

"I plan to compete in all lead events, including the European Championships in Munich in August. This is my main goal this season," she said.

This is a strategic decision with an eye on the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where a new combined event will be on the schedule. In Tokyo Garnbret won the speed-boulder-lead combination, in Paris the combination will be lead-boulder.

"You have to choose wisely which events to compete in this year and next. I want to be the real Janja in Paris, 100% prepared and motivated," she said.

STA, 14 December 2021 - Sport climber Janja Garnbret, cyclist Tadej Pogačar and the national men's basketball team have fetched the main accolades at the 2021 Athlete of the Year ceremony on Monday evening.

In the women's category, Garnbret convincingly won the poll conducted by the Association of Sport Journalists among 115 reporters for her third accolade as the woman's athlete of the year, after 2018 and 2019.

The Tokyo Olympic gold medal winner collected 333 points to be followed by judoka Tina Trstenjak (129), the silver medallist in the women's 63kg category in Tokyo, and ski jumper Nika Križnar (77), the overall World Cup winner last season.

"Janja Garnbret is barely 22 years old and she is already the most successful sport climber in history. She also moves milestones in climbing in natural climbing sites. She is the best sport climber in the world," the association said.

Garnbret said that it was "really not the first time, but I always feel great when I receive the title of the athlete of the year. It's nice that people recognise and see this, get you recognised. This is why this title means a lot to me."

Pogačar, who won his second consecutive Tour de France this year and grabbed bronze in the road race at the Summer Olympics, topped the vote in the men's category with 262 points for his first Athlete of the Year title.

He was followed by the fellow cyclist Primož Roglič (218), who won the gold medal in Tokyo in time trial, and defended his 2020 victory in the race around Spain this year, and NBA superstar Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks (97).

It was Dončić who led the Slovenian team to the fourth place in Tokyo, a result that earned it the accolade of the team of the year in this year's Athlete of the Year campaign. They got 66 votes ahead of the men's volleyball team (37).

"Tadej Pogačar is so important a figure in the cycling world that he has earned contract with the UAE team until 2027. We can understand his bosses. Without a sliver of doubt, he is currently the best cyclist in the world," the association said.

Pogačar told the press conference ahead of the ceremony that it was "really a prestigious award, in particular in such a year as this year. When you receive such an award in your own country, then it's icing on the cake."

As for the basketball team, the association said that the "semi-finals of the Olympic tournament is an achievement that could be compared to the European champions title. We are convinced that this team will brings us many a joy in the future."

STA, 9 November 2021 - Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret, who won a gold medal in sport climbing at the Tokyo Olympics, has set a new milestone by becoming the first woman to climb an 8c-rated route onsight, according to the Slovenian Mountaineering Association.

After the end of competition this season, she took a rock-climbing holiday in Oliana in Spain, where she achieved her latest feat. In the beginning of November, she managed to climb two different 8c-rated climbing routes in the span of two days.

Both of her ascents were achieved onsight, which means that she made them on her first attempt on an unknown route, without prior information.

The 8c is currently the highest route difficulty rating ever successfully climbed onsight by a female climber.

"I had never actually thought of trying to climb an 8c, but later I decided to give it a go anyway. No pressure, just climbing, it just happened." the 22-year-old Slovenian climber told planetmountain.com.

"This was my first trip to Oliana. On the first day, I tried some different, slightly easier routes, before trying the harder ones," she added.

"I didn't panic, I was very calm. I think I was climbing quite fast and resting where it felt appropriate. I felt super good, very relaxed and focused," concluded 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 splezala do zlate olimpijske medalje

Janja Garnbret climbed to the Olympic gold medal

Written by Sabina Lavrič translated by JL Flanner & G Translate

Ko je bila majhna, je Janja Garnbret rada plezala po drevesih, vratih in omarah. Starši so jo vpisali v plezalni klub, kjer se je srečala s pravo steno in oprimki.

When she was little, Janja Garnbret loved to climb trees, doors and closets. Her parents enrolled her in a climbing club, where she encountered a real wall and grips.

Kmalu je postala tako dobra, da je začela tekmovati. Danes je Janja šestkratna svetovna in po novem tudi olimpijska prvakinja v športnem plezanju!

She soon became so good that she started competing. Today, Janja is a six-time world and now also an Olympic champion in sport climbing!

Plezalke so se v finalu tako kot v sredo v kvalifikacijah, ki jih je dobila prav Janja, merile v treh disciplinah. Najprej v hitrostnem plezanju, nato na balvanih in za konec še v težavnostnem plezanju.

In the finals, as on Wednesday in the qualifications, which were won by Janja, the climbers competed in three disciplines. First in speed climbing, then on bouldering and finally in lead climbing.

Kot peta najhitrejša je z novim državnim rekordom preplezala 15-metrsko steno. Na balvanih, kjer se pleza brez vrvi, Janja je edina med osmimi tekmovalkami dvakrat dosegla vrh. Nato je s plezalnim pasom, vrvjo in vrečko magnezija priplezala najvišje še v težavnostnem plezanju.

As the fifth fastest, she climbed a 15-meter wall with a new national record. On the boulders, where she climbs without a rope, Janja was the only one of the eight competitors to reach the top twice. Then, with a climbing harness, rope and a bag of chalk, she climbed the highest in lead climbing.

V dneh pred tekmo je bila zelo nervozna, ker so vsi rekli, da bo dobila zlato medaljo.

In the days before the match, she was very nervous, because everyone said she would get a gold medal.

»Ne znam povedati, kako mi je odleglo. Težko je bilo ostati zbran v vseh treh disciplinah. Posrečilo se mi je v hitrosti, zbrana sem ostala v balvanih, na koncu sem odplezala najbolje kot znam. Ne vem, kako sem zmogla, ampak mi je uspelo,« je povedala po osvojitvi olimpijskega zlata.

“I can’t tell you how relieved I was. It was hard to stay focused in all three disciplines. I was lucky in the speed, I stayed collected in the boulders, in the end I climbed the best I know how. I don't know how I managed, but I succeeded, "she said after winning the Olympic gold.

Janja bo v zgodovino olimpijskih iger za vedno zapisana kot prva olimpijska prvakinja v športnem plezanju, saj tega športa doslej na olimpijskih igrah ni bilo.

Janja will forever go down in the history of the Olympic Games as the first Olympic champion in sport climbing, as this sport has not been at the Olympic Games before.

To je bila peta medalja za Slovenijo na teh olimpijskih igrah, tretja zlata.

This was the fifth medal for Slovenia at these Olympic Games, the third gold.

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

STA, 6 August 2021 - Janja Garnbret won gold in the women's combined sport climbing at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday in what is the third gold medal for Slovenia at the Games. Miho Nonaka of Japan won the silver medal and her compatriot Akiyo Noguchi earned bronze in what is the first time that the sport featured as any Olympic discipline.

In speed, Janja Garnbret finished fifth, setting the Slovenian record in this category by clocking 7.81 seconds, after she beat US Brooke Raboutou and Austria's Jessica Pilz. She failed to make it to the top four in speed after initially losing to one of the best speed climbers in the world, Anouck Jaubert of France.

This is what #JanjaGarnbret is capable of. Only two other climbers even completed this boulder at all, and she flew up it first time like it was nothing.

This is why she’s the best in the world. pic.twitter.com/CgzUJLwc42

— ⚕️Rick Cox MS, LAT, ATC, CSCS⚕️ (@RickCox_AT) August 4, 2021

Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw, two-time speed climbing world champion, was the best in this category, beating Jaubert and setting a new world record with 6.84 seconds.

In bouldering, Garnbret ranked the highest. She first faced a 35 degree wall which posed an insurmountable challenge for quite a few competitors, but she was the first and only climber to crack this tough nut and climb right to the top.

In the qualification the 22-year-old dominated in bouldering, clinching four tops and a similar scenario played out in the final where she was the only one to have made it to the top twice in what was a challenge of climbing three different boulders.

Her ascent to the top of the second boulder was especially impressive as she made it look almost easy, succeeding in her first attempt.

In lead, where Garnbret is known to be best, holding two World Champion titles, she again dominated as she made it almost to the top, having gripped 37+ holds.

In her first comment after becoming Olympic Champion, she was visibly moved, displaying tears of joy. "The weight is now off my shoulder," she said, pointing out that when she bounced back in speed to set the national record, she knew she had it in herself to go for the gold.

STA, 4 July 2021 - Slovenia's Janja Garnbret continues to excel at this year's climbing World Cup, having won her fourth event this season in Villars, Switzerland on Saturday, which raises hope for the Tokyo Olympics, where she will be the country's main contender for gold.

"My first impression after the event are great. I can't remember the last time I climbed all four routes at an event. I think it was a truly perfect weekend. I enjoyed myself, and felt good," said Garnbret, adding she was happy with her performance, including her speed.

"I broke my personal speed record, going under eight seconds for the first time, and got yet another confirmation in the difficulty level, which is a great sign for Tokyo," she said.

Out of the eight finalists in Villars, four were Slovenian. Vita Lukan was fifth, and Lučka Rakovec and Mia Krampl sevenths and eight, respectively.

Italian Laura Rogora was second and Natalia Grossman from the US was third.

Garnbret will not compete in the next two World Cup events in Chamonix and Briancon, France, to prepare for the Olympics. "I look forward to just being home the last three weeks before the Olympics, training, working on the details, so I'm looking forward to leaving for Tokyo and competing at the Olympics," said Slovenia's best climber.