Jernej Kruder too far from Olympics in Combined WC...

Jernej Kruder too far from the Olympic Games in the Combined WC.



After Janja Garnbret secured her ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics yesterday, Jernej Kruder competed today in the qualifications of the combined event at the World Championships in Hachioji, but in strong competition he failed to qualify for tomorrow's final or secure a spot at next year's Olympics. The next opportunity will be in November in France.







In the battle for the combined final and Olympic quotas, after the women the men also faced the climbing triathlon. In seven hours they competed in three disciplines - first speed, then four boulder problems awaited them, and as the last a lead route. The final placement was determined by the product of placements in all disciplines. The best performer was German Alexander Megos (17) ahead of Austrian Jakob Schubert (60) and Japanese Tomoo Narasaki (112).







The only Slovenian representative in the men's competition, Jernej Kruder (1638), was thirteenth in speed with a time of 7.295 s, ninth on boulders with two tops and three zones, and fourteenth in lead with height 29+, which earned him 16th place overall. "I am very tired and satisfied with my climbing, but also a bit disappointed, as in the end the results didn't pan out. I had enough luck in speed climbing, real bad luck on boulders, and in lead I didn't hit the right style of the route, so the result there wasn't good either, and unfortunately the product at the end wasn't good enough to celebrate too much today," summed up his impressions the 28-year-old from Celje.







Kruder is already thinking about the next opportunity to hunt for the Olympic ticket: "In the next three months I have a lot of work ahead and a lot of nerves will go into it, as we have the next qualifying event in Toulouse in November. Nothing, head up, and I hope it will be better there!" At the World Championships in Japan, the most successful Slovenian combined climber recorded his best achievement in his flagship discipline, bouldering, where he placed 10th.







The only Slovenian sport climber who has already secured participation in the Tokyo Olympics next year is Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO), who after exhausting competition days and two world champion titles won - in bouldering and lead climbing - in Hachioji awaits the combined final tomorrow. In the women's competition, three other combinators also competed: Mia Krampl (AO PD Kranj) climbed to 14th place, Vita Lukan (ŠPO PD Radovljica) 16th, and Lučka Rakovec (PK FA) 17th.