Janja Garnbret claims third victory this year in Arco

Third time's the charm, one could say for Janja Garnbret, who won on July 28 at this year's fourth World Cup event in lead climbing in Italy's Arco, after finishing third at the renowned competition venue last year and the year before. This was the Carinthian's third win in this season's lead category and her fourth podium finish, where Domen Škofic also climbed for the second time in a row, securing a bronze medal in Italy.



Slovenian sport climber Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO) was a step ahead of her competitors with tops in the qualification and semifinal routes, and she also delivered the best performance in the demanding final, where she fell three moves below the top but convincingly won ahead of Austria's Jessica Pilz in second and Belgium's Anak Verhoeven in third. "Arco wasn't my best friend, as it wouldn't let me off third place, so this year I especially wanted a win and gave it my all already in qualifications. I climbed the final route a bit tensely, as we didn't know the sequence of moves at the start, then I couldn't relax, even though the route allowed some rests and figuring things out. In the end, I ran out of steam, but I was satisfied with what I showed, as I gave it my best and was happy even without the top," the 19-year-old Carinthian laughed, who managed to break the Arco curse after also winning this year in Villars and Briançon, and finishing second in Chamonix. With the new podium, she firmly secured the lead in the overall World Cup standings in lead climbing.



For the second time in a row this season, Domen Škofic (ŠPO PD Radovljica) climbed onto the podium, enhancing his bronze from Briançon a week ago with another bronze in Arco. Even though he slipped while clipping in the final, his good climbing was enough for an excellent third place: "I'm not satisfied with the final climb because I slipped, but being on the podium again with a mistake is just confirmation that the form is really good and it will open up for me one day. Today I somehow felt like I would win, but the slip prevented it; up to that point, I felt really good and liked the route a lot, so I wanted to climb it. It seems I have to wait a bit longer for the win, but I feel very good. In the end, I'm happy with the podium, but there's a bitter aftertaste, as this year I haven't yet put together a climb like I know how, even though the great results keep coming." The winner was Austria's Jakob Schubert, with Italy's Stefano Ghisolfi in second.



Three more Slovenians competed in the semifinals: Tjaša Kalan (AO PD Kranj) finished 9th, missing the final for the third time this season by a hair, Mina Markovič (PK Plus) placed 10th with the same semifinal height as Kalan, and Katja Kadić (PK Škofja Loka) ended the competition in 26th. Slovenia was also represented by Milan Preskar (PK Škofja Loka) in 29th, Tjaša Slemenšek (Šaleški AO) in 39th, and Martin Bergant (PK Škofja Loka) in 49th.



"We've been going in the right direction all season. Too bad for Tjaša and Mina that they just missed the final line. On the other hand, in the cursed Arco today we put things in the right place. I'm very happy for Janja, who always tries to show the best she knows, and very happy for Domen, who showed really good climbing in the final, too bad he slipped," summed up the selector of the Slovenian sport climbing team, Gorazd Hren.



After a demanding July, the sport climbing caravan awaits a short competition break; the next World Cup will be in bouldering on August 17 and 18 in Munich, while the season's highlight is the Sport Climbing World Championships hosted by Innsbruck from September 6 to 16, and on September 29 and 30 we can cheer again for the best sport climbers in Kranj.