Janja Garnbret European runner-up in bouldering...

Janja Garnbret European runner-up in bouldering, gold in combined, Anže Peharc third.



Eighteen-year-old Janja Garnbret won the silver medal in the superfinal at the 2017 European Bouldering Championships on August 19, thereby securing gold in the combined event of the continental championship as well, while 20-year-old Anže Peharc climbed to bronze in Munich. The Slovenian sport climbing team, together with Mina Markovič's silver in lead in July, thus won four medals at this year's European Championships.



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Munich is a place of happy name for the Slovenian sport climbing team, which is returning home with three medals from the European Bouldering Championships and at least one World Cup medal. The main heroine of the season's bouldering competition is Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO), who after dominating the qualifiers also performed excellently in the World Cup semifinals, which was simultaneously the European Championship final, but in the superfinal had to admit superiority to Serbian Staša Gejo, the new European bouldering champion. "When I climbed the last boulder in the first attempt in the semifinals, I was extremely happy with my good climbing, but the superfinal still awaited me. First there was shock, how is this possible, but we both had the best Europeans with all four tops and the same number of attempts. Then I accepted climbing with Staša with enthusiasm, it was very tense and in the superfinal the jump decided, with which I was not most satisfied. Too bad it wasn't a boulder where physical strength would really show. Second place is excellent, I'm very satisfied with the medal, which brought me victory in the European Championship combined as well, and in the evening the World Cup final awaits me," rejoiced the 18-year-old Carinthian over the double European accolade, already with her thoughts on the World Cup closing event final. Third was Swiss Petra Klingler, fourth British Shauna Coxey, already the overall 2017 World Cup bouldering winner, while Garnbret climbed to second place in the overall bouldering standings, as her closest rival for second, Japanese Miho Nonaka, did not qualify for the evening World Cup final. In the European Championship combined, Garnbret confidently won ahead of second-placed Petra Klingler and third-placed Staša Gejo.



Anže Peharc (AO PD Kranj), otherwise the 2015 European youth bouldering champion, took care of the third Slovenian medal at the continental bouldering championships, shining for the first time at the highest-level senior competition this time. "To qualify for third place seemed unrealistic to imagine before the competition. I'm very satisfied with my climbing both in qualifiers and semifinals, as well as with the final third place at the European Championships, as this is by far my best achievement in senior competition. This was also my first appearance at the European Championships, luck and my current good form decided, my advantage over others was also fewer attempts and greater focus," rejoiced the 20-year-old from Tržič, who achieved eighth place in the World Cup competition. The men's European top was taken by Germans, with Jan Hojer becoming the new European bouldering champion and Alexander Megos the runner-up.



"Excellent success for the Slovenian team at the European Championships. Janja's gold in combined, silver at the European bouldering championships, and although the World Cup final awaits her in the evening, she is already second in the overall World Cup bouldering standings. Anže Peharc has progressed so much in the recent period that his good performance did not surprise us, we are happy with his progress and podium, which also means the future of men's bouldering," head coach of the senior national team Gorazd Hren did not hide his enthusiasm.



Just off the podium, in fourth place, Jernej Kruder (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) finished the European Championships, who became world runner-up in Munich in 2014, this time 29th in the men's World Cup competition and with a good performance also achieved fifth place in the European Championship combined. "I came to the competition in Munich more for the World Cup, which unfortunately didn't work out for me, but I got a rare opportunity to qualify among the top 20 Europeans and improve my result at the European Championships. I'm satisfied with my climbing, but in the World Cup a lot depends on details, as there are too many of us to allow small mistakes, which also cost me the World Cup final and European Championship podium," assessed his performance the 26-year-old from Celje.



Katja Kadič (PK Škofja Loka) climbed to eighth place in the European and 11th in the world competition, satisfied both with her performance in Bavaria and the entire season. "I'm very satisfied with my performance, perhaps more in the qualifiers. The semifinal boulders were very much to my liking, I lacked a bit of luck on two, and the result would have been even better. My main goal was to climb relaxed, climb as many boulders as possible, so I'm satisfied with 8th place at the European Championships or 11th in the World Cup. The audience was great, in Munich I think it's always the loudest, which gives you extra energy to try to reach the top. Otherwise, I'm satisfied with the entire season," summed up her impressions the 22-year-old from Ljubljana.



Jernej's sister Julija Kruder (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) also competed in the semifinals, 17th at the European Championships and 18th at the World Cup event: "I'm really glad I made it to the semifinals, because the competition was really tough, as were the conditions in the qualifiers. The consequences showed in the semifinals, I was tired, but I gave it my all. I made some mistakes, I know I could have climbed even better, but I'm satisfied," said the 19-year-old sport climber.



With her bouldering performance in Germany, Mina Markovič (ŠPK Plus), the current European lead runner-up, climbed to overall seventh place in the European Championship combined, this time 53rd in the European and 83rd in the EP competition. Gregor Vezonik (AK Ravne), 29th in European and 41st in world rankings, Urška Repušič (ŠPO APD Kozjak Maribor), 35th in European and 47th in world rankings, and Lana Skušek (AO PD Črnuče), 56th among European women and 80th overall, also competed in the qualifiers.