Despite the uncertain competitive season...

Despite the uncertain competitive season, sport climbers are training in full swing.



The Slovenian national team in sport climbing recorded enviable results in 2019. At the biggest competitions, namely the world and European championships and world cup competitions, they won 24 medals, the youth national team added 8 more medals to the seniors' success. Unfortunately, this year the coronavirus epidemic happened and most international competitions were canceled. This was a shock for our competitors, but they took the quarantine as a unique challenge and preparation for a different season.







This year, due to the coronavirus epidemic restrictions, quite a few international competitions were canceled, fortunately the national championship remains. The competitors did not rest during the quarantine, they trained diligently in the desire to show themselves in all their form as soon as possible. To awaken a bit of competitive spirit in the competitors, we at the Slovenian Alpine Association organized the First competition in 2020. The best competitors competed against each other in boulder climbing at the Climbing Center Koper. The first three places among the girls were shared by Vita Lukan, Janja Garnbret and Julija Kruder and among the boys Jernej Kruder, Žiga Zajc and Martin Bergant.







This year's season in sport climbing is very special. Everything we planned at PZS, from participation in international competitions to participation in the Olympic Games and the climbing spectacle in Stožice, fell through overnight. »This was followed by a two-month break. Now things are slowly normalizing, we have somehow gotten used to living with the virus. At the end of last week, we were happy with the message from the International Federation for Sport Climbing (IFSC) that it will organize some international competitions this year after all. They have set the schedule optimistically, we keep our fingers crossed and hope that it will be realized. At PZS, we are already checking which competitions will have guaranteed television broadcast, so that in cooperation with RTV SLO we can enable viewing to all fans of sport climbing. First, I would like to thank the competitors and the leadership of the national teams for finding motivation for training and preparations even in such circumstances, so that they remain in step with the competition. Thanks also to the partners of the national teams in sport climbing Telekom Slovenije, Lapis and especially Prva osebna zavarovalnica, who remain loyal to us and support us this year in changed conditions,« said the general secretary of PZS Matej Planko.







Fortunately, there is at least something constant this year. This year too, the general sponsor of the national team in sport climbing remains Prva osebna zavarovalnica, which is a great support for sport climbing. »As the general sponsor of the national team in sport climbing, together with the Slovenian Alpine Association, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Prva osebna zavarovalnica, we had big plans for 2020. In the fall, there would be a world cup competition in lead climbing in Ljubljana's Stožice, the project Prva na svetu, which would mean the first large format of such an event in Slovenia. Now our new constant is adapting to changes, which is why today's First competition represents a completely fresh canvas. With the excellent form of our climbers, we are therefore looking forward together and once again, as one, looking forward to conquering new peaks,« concluded Nataša Hajdinjak, member of the board of Prva osebna zavarovalnica.







In this season, the Slovenian colors will be represented by female sport climbers Janja Garnbret, Mia Krampl, Katja Kadić, Tjaša Kalan, Julija Kruder, Vita Lukan, Mina Markovič, Urška Repušič, Lučka Rakovec, Lana Skušek and Tjaša Slemenšek and male sport climbers Martin Bergant, Matic Kotar, Jernej Kruder, Anže Peharc, Luka Potočar, Domen Škofic, Zan Sudar, Gregor Vezonik and Žiga Zajc.







This year's selected team was presented by selector Gorazd Hren at the press conference after the competition and revealed the goals: »This year's season will be strange. There is a great probability that there will not even be a season at the world cup level. We prepared well for the start of the season, we were successful at the last preparatory competition in Germany, but unfortunately then happened what happened and so we have been in great uncertainty since then. It is true that last Friday we got a new world cup calendar, but it seems to me that the schedule with competitions in France, America, Korea and China is quite too optimistic. This year, the competitors allowed themselves a bit more climbing in nature, for which they often lack time due to a packed schedule of trainings and competitions. Of course, everyone is also training normally, since in the national team we cannot afford to take the season too lightly. We are trying to turn this period to our advantage and work on individual shortcomings. Now is the time when we can focus more on speed training and technique and dynamics of boulder climbing. In any case, we will continue with national team trainings, whether international competitions happen or not.«







»This year is quite a unique challenge,« added the assistant selector and trainer Luka Fonda. »In the national team, we try to train at a high level that is adapted to our competitors. During the quarantine period, this was of course not possible, so now we are training together a lot again. Just like the Olympic Games, all international competitions have been postponed or canceled. In this period, the trainings are a bit different, focused mainly on what there is no time for in the usual competitive cycle. Motivation is also important, since in a season without competitions, it is necessary to find a different internal stimulation and be aware that we can do a lot of quality for the period when there will be a fairly normal competitive season again. In the foreground remains good preparation for possible competitions in the second half of this year and maintaining good form.«







Last year, the rejuvenated youth national team under the leadership of Anže Štremflja also achieved some encouraging results. Sara Čopar became the world youth champion in combination. There have not yet been international competitions for the youth national team this year. The world youth championship, which was the main goal of this year's season and would be at the end of August in Russia, is canceled or postponed to next year. The European youth championship in all three disciplines remains on the calendar, planned for the end of October in Russian Perm. According to the selector of the youth national team Anže Štremflja, in the youth national team they were eagerly waiting for the first international competitions, so the outcome of the events is all the more disappointing for them, but on the other hand also a good opportunity. »Above all, after several competitive seasons, we have time when we don't have to deal only with selections, but can redirect attention to eliminating shortcomings that we have noticed in international competitions with our competitors in recent years. In addition, especially for younger categories, climbing in rock is important, to which we will dedicate even more time in the coming months. Regardless of whether we will participate only in competitions for the national championship or also international competitions, we will use the time until the end of November for quality trainings and also already for preparation for the next season.«







And how are the main heroines and heroes of sport climbing preparing for this year's season?







Janja Garnbret again delivered exceptional results last year. With all victories at world cup competitions in boulders, she became the first competitor to succeed in this. She recorded a new milestone at the world championship in Japan with three titles of world champion – in boulders, lead and combination. She is the only one in the history of this sport who won the title of world champion in three different disciplines at the same world championship, and she is also the only among Slovenian athletes who won three gold medals at one world championship. With a total of six gold medals, she is the woman with the most victories at world championships, in addition to them she has a silver, and in Japan she also climbed a ticket for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The thought of performing at the Olympic Games drove her forward, so this year's cancellation of major competitions was a difficult mental shift for her. »I often found it hard to prepare for trainings as if the Olympic Games were at the door, although I knew they wouldn't be. There was a lot of fluctuation in motivation, which I think is completely normal, since the OI was my only and biggest goal this year. With coach Roman, we made a good plan with the thought as if the OI are still at the door. My goal this year is not only to improve climbing, but to take another step forward in speed. I want to be one of the better combinators in speed. During the quarantine, I missed the rhythm of competitions, travels, preparations, but it wasn't bad either. With Domen, we could train on our wall almost from the beginning, I could train speed. I helped a lot in the center itself, so it wasn't bad.«







Another star shone from the shadow of Janja's successes, Mia Krampl. With a silver medal in lead at the world championship, she announced a decisive fight for the Olympic ticket. She climbed it at the end of the season in a dramatic final with her national team colleague Lučka Rakovec. Mia placed in the finals of world cup competitions in lead three times last year and was also on the podium of the world cup in boulders. While Slovenian sport climbers found themselves in Slovenian quarantine, Mia Krampl trained in Japan. Even though she didn't think it would be like that at first: »First, Japan was meant as two weeks of boulder preparations, but the epidemic ruined my plans a bit. They canceled my flight and I had to buy a new ticket. That flight was also soon canceled and in the end I stayed in Japan for almost two months. To be honest, it wasn't bad at all, because while everything was closed in Slovenia, we lived almost normal life there. The first month I trained completely normally, then the climbing centers closed there too.« She will use this year's special year for speed and boulder training, since she has a lot of room for progress in these two disciplines.







The trend of expanding the circle of top Slovenian climbers continued last year, as medals besides Janja and Mia were won by 5 more competitors: Lučka Rakovec, Urška Repušič, Jernej Kruder, Vita Lukan and Anže Peharc, all with medals at the European championship or world cup.







For Jernej Kruder, a specialist for boulder competitions, last year didn't go quite as in the previous season. Nevertheless, he won the world cup competition in boulders in Moscow and ended up in ninth place in the overall standings. At the world championship, not everything went according to his wishes, but nevertheless he ended up in the top ten at the end. He spent spring and quarantine in domestic Slovenian rock, at local climbing areas and right at home on the wall or on the balcony. »Since international competitions were very undefined, I maintained form by climbing only hard routes in nature. When I know exactly how reliable the competition dates will be, then I will move to the artificial wall for a day or two.«







Lučka Rakovec placed in the finals of world cup competitions in lead four times last year and won fourth place overall at the end. In boulders, she was a finalist once, and she achieved the success of her career with a gold medal at the European championship in lead. At the beginning of the preparatory part of the season, she focused more on boulder training as in previous years, but as always, lead remains her basic discipline, to which she now dedicates most of her trainings. »In the first few weeks of quarantine, like the vast majority, I also didn't have the opportunity to train on the wall, so I only did strength exercises and stretching exercises. As soon as the opportunity showed, I returned to normal trainings.«







Urška Repušič became the European champion in boulders last year, and at the world games she won third place in the same discipline. This year too, she emphasizes boulder climbing. »This season, I have more time to focus on things that need to be improved, so I will use this additional time wisely. In this period, I focused on fulfilling school obligations, so that I can later fully dedicate myself to preparations for the competitive season, so I can hardly wait to start training full on, knowing that I have all other obligations done. The changed season gave me some time for rest and reflection, I will approach training a bit differently than before. Despite the changed season, I will of course try hard, because I know that with hard work and focus I can achieve higher goals and become an even better climber. I immensely look forward to competitions and sincerely hope that the conditions will allow travel around the world.«







Vita Lukan climbed a silver medal at the European championship in boulders, at the world championship in lead she ended up in seventh place after an excellent performance in the semi-finals. In addition, she was also a finalist in the world cup competition in lead in Briancon. A knee injury crossed her plans for this year's season. Recovery from the injury went according to plan. »Now I already climb without major problems, only on specific moves where it is necessary to heavily load the knee, I still feel pricking. Half a year without climbing was torturous, but I used the time well to improve my shortcomings. I could do exercises for the upper body and fingers, which is the most important in climbing. The injury left quite a few positive consequences, as it seems to me that now I train with even greater passion and drive than in previous seasons.« The competitive break did her good in her studies, as she successfully completed the 1st year of physiotherapy.







Anže Peharc placed in the finals of world cup competitions in boulders three times last year and won eighth place overall at the end. He has a fresh diploma thesis titled Smart Climbing Wall in his hands and wishes to transfer it from the theoretical part to the practical one, as such a system would contribute to better training for him, as well as for all others. The competitive future is unfortunately uncertain. »I strive to return to the competitive jersey as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I try to improve my physical and mental preparedness and dedicate myself a bit more to rock climbing.«







Although not everything turned out according to plans for them, Domen Škofic, Mina Markovič and Gregor Vezonik still aim for the world top.







Domen Škofic placed in the finals of world cup competitions in lead twice. This year, he imagined participating only in lead competitions. »Most of all, I was looking forward to the world cup competition in Stožice. The cancellation of competitions due to the pandemic disappointed me, but I like to train and continued as if the competitions will be. Currently, my main guide is to climb harder routes in rock, as I need challenges. I think this year's competitions will not be conducted in the form we know.«







Mina Markovič is one of the most experienced climbers in the competitive climbing caravan. At the European championship in lead, she performed in the final and won fourth place. »This year, I already directed it at the beginning to a bit more rock year, and the circumstances only contributed a bit more to that. So I will spend most of the year in natural walls. I climb mostly sport climbing routes, I want to try both boulders and as many other and diverse types of routes as possible. At the same time, I also train on artificial walls to maintain contact with plastic and physical preparedness. I have also found some routes in the nearby area that I haven't managed to climb yet and they represent a challenge for me. Of course, I want to climb them successfully, but above all, use this year for climbing in nature and gaining experience on different climbing terrains.«







Gregor Vezonik remodeled his garage into a small gym during the coronavirus. »I was lucky that before the closure of municipalities, I borrowed a finger training board from the Verd Climbing Center and therefore could dedicate a large part of the training to finger training. Given the situation in the world, I still hope that IFSC will not rush with the organization of international competitions. Given that many climbers still do not have access to climbing walls, we are not yet at the point where competitions could be fairly organized. Training basically remains the same. The last month before the first competitions for the national championship, the trainings will be more specific, but for now, I continue with my program.«







The epidemic also stopped the Slovenian paraclimbing caravan. Since its usual season is in summer, on outdoor walls, all competitions were canceled in succession this year. »The most we can hope for is some autumn competition, but given that paraclimbers are often a more at-risk population, we don't count on that. We have adapted our year to the situation accordingly. Grega Selak and Matej Arh have set more serious goals in rock, while Tanja Glušič has health problems and would probably lose this season in any case. All that remains for us this year is to maintain fitness, learn something new and above all enjoy climbing, although we all miss the competitive scene,« said selector Jurij Ravnik.