Janja Garnbret's second victory in Kranj and...

Janja Garnbret's second victory in Kranj and first podium for Luka Potočar.

At the Lead World Cup event in Kranj, Olympic gold medalist Janja Garnbret climbed to a new gold medal, her 31st in the World Cup and second in Kranj. Young Luka Potočar earned his first podium finish, as he is in excellent form this year. "The Zlato polje hall hosted a truly exceptional competition, starting from the semifinals. Having six Slovenians in the final is really unbelievable," summarized the coach of the Slovenian national team, Luka Fonda.



In the full Zlato polje hall in Kranj at the Sport Climbing World Cup event, the atmosphere was exceptional, as this year is special for sport climbing. Olympic gold medalist and the world's best climber Janja Garnbret attracted many sport climbing enthusiasts to Kranj. The 22-year-old from Carinthia showed that she can find motivation even after winning almost everything with her gold medal at the Olympics. Janja Garnbret, who already has one win in Kranj, climbed the tenth for Slovenia in the Zlato polje hall today. "I didn't know it was the tenth, so it's even greater honor. Given the bad experience from 2019 when I didn't qualify for the final, I really enjoyed today, especially with such great support from the audience. I climbed without pressure. I didn't give up. In the middle part, I climbed a bit my own way, but I wasn't worried. I still don't understand how I could win the overall Lead World Cup standings, as I skipped two events. This is really an addition to everything. Even if someone thinks it's just another win, it's not true. I'm happy for every one, and each is special to me." Janja Garnbret has bet everything on the Olympic medal in the last two years, and it wasn't easy for her to find motivation for a new competition and a new medal. "A bit of rest did me good. Kranj was really strong motivation; if it were some other event, I wouldn't have participated."



But Vita Lukan, who finished fifth, and Lučka Rakovec, sixth, also qualified for the final alongside Janja. Second in Kranj was Chaehyun Seo from South Korea, third Natalia Grossman from the USA.



Among the men, Japanese climber Higuči Masahiro won, but in an excellent second place, 19-year-old Jesenice native Luka Potočar climbed his first World Cup medal, having been in the final for the first time last year. "This was the best competition of my life. In the final, I showed what I know. Competing in front of the home crowd is really something special. First, I was happy to make the final, and the home audience helped me a lot to win second place." Luka Potočar ended the Lead season in fourth place. Third place in Kranj went to Sebastian Halenke from Germany.



Domen Škofic and Milan Preskar also qualified for the men's final. For the 25-year-old from Škofja Loka, this was his first World Cup final, and this year he achieved his best result in Chamonix, 18th place. "It took me a long time to realize I was in the final. When I stepped into the route, I finally calmed down. During climbing, I tried to climb everything too quickly and got a bit stuck. The route was set so that you had to think a bit, and it wasn't just quick. Nevertheless, I'm very satisfied with my performance and now I'm building on it and looking forward to the World Championships. I can still refine something in the last trainings, and I know I'll be better by the championships." Domen Škofic narrowly missed the medal and finished fourth.



"From the semifinals onward, where ten members of the Slovenian national team qualified, it was an exceptional competition. Having six finalists is a dream. Milan Preskar finally broke the ice with exceptional climbing and qualified for the final after a long career in the national team. Great praise to Luka Potočar for winning a silver medal, and that on home soil. Too bad for Domen, as he was just a little short of the medal. We already know the girls are excellent. Golden Janja, Vita, and Lučka were very close to medals. All today's results are an excellent preparation for the World Championships in Moscow, from September 16 to 21," summarized the coach of the Slovenian national team, Luka Fonda.



Mia Krampl also qualified for the semifinals, narrowly missing the final and finishing 9th. Lana Skušek was 10th, debutante in Kranj, 16-year-old Sara Čopar from Laško, this year's world youth champion in lead and combined, finished 23rd. Lucija Tarkuš, who won silver in lead at this year's youth world championships and was third in bouldering and second in combined, finished 25th in Kranj. The Slovenian sport climbing team was also represented by four more in qualifications. Tjaša Slemenšek finished 27th, Liza Novak 30th, and Katja Debevec 31st. Martin Bergant also qualified for the men's semifinals and finished 9th. Anže Peharc climbed to 28th, Andrej Polak 31st, Timotej Ramšak 46th, and Žiga Zajc 48th.



Representatives of the Alpine Association of Slovenia and Prva osebna zavarovalnica, the general sponsor of the sport climbing national team, thanked 33-year-old Mina Markovič and 24-year-old Tjaša Primožič for their exceptional sports achievements and inspiration to young climbers, as they ended their sports careers in Kranj. Mina Markovič has 22 World Cup wins in her collection, was a three-time Lead World Cup winner, has 4 wins in Kranj, silver and bronze from the world championships, gold from the 2013 World Games, was European lead champion in 2015, and has three more silvers and one bronze from European championships. In her speech, she thanked the Alpine Association of Slovenia and the Slovenian Army for helping her sports career. "Without the association, there would be far fewer of these exceptional moments. I would thank everyone who stood by me on this path, coaches Roman Krajnik and Urh Čehovin, and all my family."



The Alpine Association of Slovenia is strongly striving to keep the World Cup event in Slovenia. "The event has a great contribution for competitors and spectators, as they can watch the world's best sport climbers live from a young age. There has been excellent atmosphere in Kranj all these years. Even though the hall was among the most advanced in the World Cup 25 years ago, the development of competitive sport climbing has outgrown the dimensions and offerings of the hall. Therefore, compared to other countries leading sport climbing, we are no longer competitive. In Slovenia, the construction of several climbing centers is currently planned, some of which will be able to host world-class events. The challenge remains how to host a World Cup event next year, given that no suitable wall stands yet," expressed the wishes of PZS General Secretary Damjan Omerzu.