#SloveniaClimbs Olympically and Recreationally

Sport climbing has taken a step forward into the Olympic family, increasing both the recognition of the sport and its standard-bearers, Slovenian female and male competitors who have elevated Slovenia to a sport climbing superpower with their achievements, while at the same time experiencing a true boom in recreational sport climbing. The #SloveniaClimbs project, presented by representatives of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, and the Slovenian sport climbing national team on April 12, 2017, at the Ljubljana Climbing Center, still focuses on the best sporting results but announces a refreshed approach to the Olympic discipline with a renewed image.



#SloveniaClimbs is one of the key projects of the Alpine Association of Slovenia since sport climbing joined the Olympic family, announcing a refreshed, proactive, and professional approach to the new Olympic discipline and care for the future of sport climbing in Slovenia, aware that the world's best sport climbers are being forged here, while climbing is experiencing a true boom as a recreational activity. "The long-term plan and core of the #SloveniaClimbs project include connecting the climbing world in Slovenia, popularizing sport climbing among the wider public, expanding the recognition of the sport at both professional level through our national team members' achievements and recreational level of all climbing enthusiasts, as well as establishing a more uniform system for organizing national championships, raising awareness of the importance and issues of equipping sport climbing routes in natural crags, and increasing the market value of the Slovenian sport climbing national team," announced PZS General Secretary Matej Planko. Under the umbrella of the project, the wider public will be able to discover sport climbing at various events such as Moja olimpijska norma in Velenje (14. 4.), Teden mladih Kranj (13. 5.), Triglav The Rock Ljubljana (20. 5.), Gremo v hribe at Mariborska koča on Pohorje (3. 6.), Dan slovenskih planinskih doživetij at Dom pod Storžičem (17. 6.), and others.



Sport climbing will make its premiere at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. "Sport climbing came late to the Olympic family, but not too late, and I am convinced it will stay in the Olympics. All three disciplines will be included in the Olympic format, and I believe the competitors will be competitive even in the combined event. We know where we stand in Slovenia and the world – the best! The Olympic Committee will accelerate catching up on what was not possible in previous years, as when a sport becomes Olympic, it is reflected in the principle of financial treatment in the Olympic family, ensuring maximum support. With the debut in 2020 in Tokyo, which is additional motivation for the athletes, your dreams will come true, because being an Olympian is the greatest thing one can wish for and achieve, and if you achieve a result, it crowns the sporting endeavor and the immeasurable effort athletes invest in their sport," Slovenian national team members were addressed by Bogdan Gabrovec, President of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia – Association of Sports Federations.



For the Tokyo 2020 OG, a four-day sport climbing competition system has been adopted, with 20 female and 20 male climbers participating, each competing for their own set of Olympic medals. "In the first round of the competition, three-day qualifications, the first day will feature speed, the second day bouldering, and the third day lead climbing. The second round will be the final, where results in individual disciplines will be equally weighted and multiplied. The top six competitors will advance to the final on the fourth day, where the best in all three disciplines will compete in one day in the order speed, boulders, lead," explained the Olympic competition system Aleš Pirc, Head of the PZS Sport Climbing Commission.



A step closer to the Olympics also requires an image update in line with the guidelines of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, so both the Slovenian sport climbing national team and the #SloveniaClimbs campaign are accompanied by a new logo depicting Triglav, the symbol of Slovenia, its three peaks representing the three sport climbing disciplines: lead, bouldering, and speed. The blue and green used are national sports colors, the glowing yellow recalls the rock at sunset, which defines the climbing day, the day on the sunny side of the Alps, and gives the logo freshness and makes it more noticeable. The words CLIMBING and PLEZA are emphasized, so the logo does not need a graphic element symbolizing climbing; wherever the logo appears, it will be associated with climbing, crags, climbers, competitions.



The new image already accompanies the Slovenian sport climbing national team this year, led by head coach Gorazd Hren and coaches Urh Čehovin and Luka Fonda, consisting in this season of female climbers Janja Garnbret, Katja Kadič, Tjaša Kalan, Rebeka Kamin, Mia Krampl, Julija Kruder, Vita Lukan, Mina Markovič, Veronika Meke, Kaja Skvarč Božič, and Tjaša Slemenšek, and male climbers Martin Bergant, Jernej Kruder, Anže Peharc, Milan Preskar, Zan Sudar, Domen Škofic, and Gregor Vezonik.



For the bouldering selected team, the opening World Cup event – Kruder finished fifth in Switzerland, Garnbret sixth – currently they are focused on the Asian tour (22. 4.–7. 5.), the lead season starts on June 30 in Italy. "This year we set the goal to achieve better results in bouldering than last season in both men's and women's competition, we want as many final appearances as possible, and definitely podiums, as Janja already achieved second place last year, and in men's, Jernej can do it, who has not yet stood on the podium at World Cup events. Goals in lead are higher, as we have both last season's World Cup winners in the team, Janja and Domen, and it's normal to aim high, but I don't want to put pressure on them, as the competition is strong and we respect it greatly. The goal is always to have a representative in the final and qualify for the podium as often as possible, especially to bring new generations of climbers entering the World Cup closer to the best. Speed is not yet in the original plan, but we are aware that a big step needs to be made soon. Currently we still lack a speed wall, but we believe we will get one in Slovenia in the near future, until then we will do some training in Austria,” outlined the plans of the senior national team head coach Gorazd Hren. As part of preparations for the Olympics, which require proficiency in all three sport climbing disciplines, all competitors are already training both boulders and lead, speed is the weak point, but they plan speed training and collaboration with foreign speed climbers or coaches.



Even in the Slovenian junior sport climbing national team, competitors are being forged who will vie for a spot at the Olympics. "The junior national team's goal remains to raise the level of young promising climbers in both bouldering and lead climbing. Since the Olympics will feature all three disciplines, we will include speed training in the work program. The main goal of this season is the World Junior Championships in Innsbruck, which has additional weight this year because competitors in some age categories will qualify for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games based on combined results. Our goal is to repeat successes from previous years in lead and bouldering and secure representatives for our national team at the first Youth Olympic Games with combined results," emphasized head coach Anže Štremfelj, whose right-hand man is coach Domen Švab. The junior national team will participate in the European Junior Championships in bouldering in Czechia, and in lead and speed in Russia, as well as European Junior Cup events, with the vision of placing among the best and gaining competitive experience for new team members.



Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO) already last year, in her first full senior season, achieved much more than many competitors in their entire careers, becoming world champion in lead and overall World Cup winner in lead and combined. She successfully started this year with sixth place at the opening bouldering event. "Last year I didn't compete the full bouldering season, nor did I achieve truly top results, so I had no special expectations before the first event, but I do for lead. Of course, the desire is to repeat last year's dream season, but I must not have too high expectations or stress too much. Lead remains the center of my attention, so I won't compete the full bouldering season, but still at most events, as I hope to make a step forward and achieve good results in bouldering too," outlined her plans the 18-year-old climber, who previously achieved everything possible in junior competition.



Mina Markovič (ŠPK Plus), the longest-serving national team member and great promoter of sport climbing, emphasized that "climbing in the last six months, since it was accepted as an Olympic sport, has experienced a big shift – in terms of recognition, media interest, sponsorship support, relations, and also from competitors' side, interest and competition are greater and stronger every year, which I think has given many competitors additional drive. Regarding establishment in Slovenia, I think it is developing nicely too. Proof is today's press conference presenting the logo and new project, the number of people involved in or following this sport, and of course new infrastructure acquisitions, like the climbing center in Koper." The current European champion, bronze medalist at last year's world championships, and three-time overall World Cup winner, all in lead, is also betting on her flagship discipline this year: "In this World Cup season, I remain faithful to lead, aiming for the European Championships and World Cup events, which doesn't mean I'll completely skip bouldering. I have already participated in some masters at local and international level, which I plan to continue this year – I have in mind especially Triglav the Rock Ljubljana and Adidas Rockstars, but lead remains first and my priority."



Lead is also Domen Škofic's (ŠPO PD Radovljica) flagship discipline, the 2016 World Cup winner in lead. "It would be top to repeat last year's lead result, I don't rule it out, but I'm happy to try something new, so this season start I focused more on bouldering, where I also want to reach the top, but I need more experience and competitions to gain confidence. Physically I'm excellently prepared, just need to sort my head," said the Radovljica native, who focused more on boulders this year also thinking of the Olympics: "Of course I want to compete at the Olympics, and this year I have 23 international events ahead to see how to complete a full season. Maybe these are already a bit of preparation, but still I climb for each event individually, I look forward to each one, the Olympics are still far away."



Fifth place at the opening World Cup in Switzerland and before that a win at a master in Germany after last season without a final showed that Slovenia's most successful boulderer Jernej Kruder (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) is returning to the fight for medals. "Finally things are coming together well for me at big events, climbing all rounds very well. I don't feel any better prepared than last season, just the mental approach is a bit different. I worry less about the result itself and enjoy climbing more than ever before," revealed his recipe the 2014 world vice-champion in bouldering, who is also an ambassador for the international competition Triglav The Rock Ljubljana, where on May 20 on Kongresni trg under spotlights and TV cameras the best sport climbers will compete. "I'm really looking forward to Triglav The Rock Ljubljana already. I think the location in the center of Ljubljana will contribute most to excellent execution, of course I hope the boulder setting will be as attractive as possible, which I believe will attract many spectators and launch climbing even further in Slovenia."



The challenge for the Slovenian national team to test itself alongside world champion Janja Garnbret in the new Olympic discipline was first accepted by Iztok Čop, Vice-President of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, with four Olympic medals Slovenia's best Olympian in independent Slovenia: "The opportunity to participate in the Olympics first means confirmation of personal quality for an athlete and fulfillment of a great dream for many – first to compete at the Games, if you're lucky to play a prominent role, it's even better, which I always wanted myself. If you're in contention for top places, I can point out that the game doesn't offer excessive pleasure, there's much more stress and focus, to those who qualify for Tokyo I wish that the program allows you to enjoy the Games from other sides too, which is quite pleasant after you've done your part."