Čopar gold-silver, Potočar youth European champion...

Čopar gold-silver, Potočar youth European champion, 6 medals for Slovenia.



The Slovenian youth national team in sport climbing returns from the European youth championships with six medals and second place in the nations' cup. Older girl Sara Čopar won the youth European champion title in combined and runner-up in lead, youth climber Luka Potočar became champion in lead, and youth climber Žiga Zajc runner-up in combined. Bronze medals in lead were also claimed by older girl Liza Novak and cadet girl Lucija Tarkuš.







At the European Youth Championships (EYC) in lead and speed climbing, held in the Russian city of Voronezh from October 18 to 20, 2019, the Slovenian youth national team won four medals in lead. Luka Potočar became the continental winner in the youth category, Sara Čopar was second and Liza Novak third among older girls, while Lucija Tarkuš claimed bronze among cadets. This competition, together with the European youth bouldering championships held in September in the Italian Brixen, also counted towards the combined. Therefore, medals for the European youth combined championships were also awarded in Russia, where older girl Čopar won gold, and youth climber Žiga Zajc took silver. Slovenia also secured second place in the nations' cup, behind France and ahead of Austria. At the end of the season, awards for the overall European youth lead cup were presented in Voronezh, where Jaka Jaki and Luka Jerman achieved second and third place respectively.







"My form was improving and expectations were high, both from coaches and myself, so I perhaps created some additional pressure to win. I climbed all routes cautiously to avoid mistakes, which made them a bit harder than they actually were. Finally, it clicked - after being second in lead at last year's championships in Imst, I finally became youth European champion," said the satisfied 17-year-old Jesenice native Luka Potočar (ŠPO PD Radovljica), who in the youth category up to 20 years earned the youth European lead champion title as the best in all rounds of the competition. Last year, both world and European youth runner-up in lead, this year he successfully transitioned to senior competition, where he achieved his best result of 12th place in lead at a World Cup event, and 8th at the senior European Championships.







In the youngest category of older girls (14, 15 years), 14-year-old Laško native Sara Čopar (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) celebrated European silver in lead and victory in combined. "I liked the wall because it was very overhanging, the holds were good, the moves interesting, and the routes just right hard with strong competition," said Čopar, who at the end of August in Arco also became youth world champion in combined: "I'm proud to have become youth champion twice this year. I surprised even myself a bit, but at the same time showed that my success at the world championships was no fluke, but I really earned both titles by working hard for them." The ninth-grader, second in lead and sixth in speed in Voronezh, fifth on boulders in Brixen a month earlier, prefers bouldering, but also likes speed a lot, where with a time under ten seconds she is among the fastest Slovenian sport climbers, even compared to seniors. The Slovenian women's speed record is held by Janja Garnbret with 9.165 s, Čopar's personal best is 9.914 s.







Joining silver medalist Čopar on the podium in lead was teammate Liza Novak (PK Laško), who claimed her first international medal with bronze among older girls. "In Voronezh, I had high goals, I was happy already with qualifying for the final, even more so with third place, which is my biggest achievement so far. Three climbers were behind me in the final, so it was tense until the end when I celebrated making the podium, especially since Sara was second," summarized the 14-year-old sport climber from Radeče.







Third place in the cadet category (16, 17 years) was celebrated by 16-year-old Lucija Tarkuš from Slovenska Bistrica (AK Impol Slovenska Bistrica), who was third at last year's youth ECh, then still in older girls. "I really liked the routes, they suited my style. Qualifications could have been better, I'm quite satisfied with semifinals, finals could have been better too. Overall, I like lead a lot, I enjoy climbing it, I'm best in this discipline," said Tarkuš, also fourth in combined. The sixth medal for Slovenia at EYC was won by 18-year-old Grosuplje native Žiga Zajc (PK Scena), overall second in combined across all three disciplines among youths.







"We can't be satisfied with the bouldering part of the European championships, as we had only a few final appearances, though we hoped for top places. We don't focus much on speed, so we're satisfied, especially Sara's sub-ten-second performance is a great achievement. Lead can be rated as very good. Luka was by far the best and deservedly won, Sara again showed good form and that her world youth championships success was no fluke, Liza surprised us a bit with a super result and her first podium. Lucija's performance wasn't optimal but enough for third. In combined, you need high level in all three disciplines, I'd highlight Sara who made finals in boulders, speed, and lead," was the assessment by selector of the Slovenian youth sport climbing team Anže Štremfelj, assisted by coaches Maja Štremfelj and Klemen Kejžar.







The Slovenian youth team had four more finalists in lead: Luka Jerman (PK Kamnik) was fourth among older boys, Žiga Zajc (PK Scena) seventh among youths, in cadets Maja Majcen (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) and Andrej Polak (PK Škofja Loka) eighth. Timotej Romšak (PK Kamnik) ninth, Jaka Jaki (DRPK) 14th and Tim Korošec (PK Škofja Loka) 16th among older boys, Betka Debevec (PK Kamnik) 14th among cadets and Ema Seliškar 22nd among older girls. In combined, among the top ten besides Čopar, Zajc and Tarkuš were Polak fourth, Romšak fifth, Korošec seventh, Jaki ninth and Seliškar tenth. In Voronezh, awards for the overall European youth lead cup were also presented, where older boys Jaka Jaki and Luka Jerman achieved second and third place.