SabinaWhen 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.
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!
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.
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.
In the days before the match, she was very nervous, because everyone said she would get a gold medal.
»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 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.
This was the fifth medal for Slovenia at these Olympic Games, the third gold.
Points to Consider
- Do you ever climb a tree?
- Why are a climbing harness, rope and magnesium necessary equipment for climbers?
- Why has climbing not been part of the Olympics until this year?
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The original version of this article was published on August 6th.
English translation courtesy of JL Flanner, Total Slovenia News, an English language website with news from and about Slovenia.
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