Kruder overall winner of the Bouldering World Cup...

Kruder overall winner of the Bouldering World Cup, Garnbret and Vezonik gold in Munich.



Jernej Kruder won the overall title of the 2018 Bouldering World Cup on August 18 in Munich, becoming the first Slovenian to claim the bouldering throne, where we have already had four overall winners in lead. The Slovenian sport climbing team wrote a dream story in Bavaria, as Janja Garnbret and Gregor Vezonik won the elite competition, the latter for the first time in his career, Kruder was second, and Katja Kadić fifth. All four are among the top five boulderers in the world at the end of the season, and Slovenia finished second in the Nations' Cup.



Jernej Kruder (ŠPO PD Celje Matica), who climbed to a silver medal at the final Bouldering World Cup event, had already secured the overall World Cup winner title in bouldering before the last final of the season, as his closest rival, Japanese Tomoa Narasaki, did not qualify for the final of the World Cup finale in Munich. "At the beginning of the season, I didn't even dare think about an overall win. It was my dream throughout my career, but I didn't dare believe such a big achievement was possible for me. This year everything turned around; after the first event in Meiringen, I found my rhythm and the season took off like never before. I relaxed, and every next competition was a pleasure and joy, without mental pressure," the 27-year-old from Celje could hardly believe the dream outcome of the season, supported in Bavaria by a crowd of compatriots and friends, as well as Slovenians living in Germany: "I was very surprised because my fans came to Munich with banners and T-shirts made especially for me. I felt great when I already saw after the semifinals that I was the overall winner, that the final worked out and I got another podium spot—it's the cherry on top. I'm very happy for the whole team, as we are really strong this year, and I'm indescribably happy for the overall win."



Kruder thus became the first Slovenian in history with an overall World Cup win in bouldering, where Janja Garnbret, second in the 2017 season, and Natalija Gros, third in 2009, have previously stood on the podium. In lead climbing, Slovenia already has four overall World Cup winners: Maja Vidmar, Mina Markovič, Janja Garnbret, and Domen Škofic, with Markovič and Garnbret also winning the overall World Cup combined title.



In the men's final, Gregor Vezonik (AK Ravne) shone, climbing his first career win at the last event of the season. "I'm speechless, I can't comprehend what's happening. Before the competition, I felt great, I felt I could win, and now my dreams have come true. I worked a lot for this; as a child, I dreamed of winning, and now my dreams have come true," the 23-year-old Carinthian, fifth in the overall Bouldering World Cup standings, was moved right after the competition. This year, his form really exploded; at the second event of the year in Moscow, he qualified for the semifinals for only the second time in his career and then celebrated bronze in Russia, which he confirmed at the fourth event in China. "In youth competitions and previous seasons, there were no signs that I could ever win a World Cup; now I've proven to myself and others that I can. Hard work pays off, everything came together, so I experienced the win very emotionally," added Vezonik, who couldn't hide his tears neither at the top of the last final boulder nor on the podium, which contributed to the dream team scenario in Germany: "This usually happens to the Japanese; that we Slovenians are the best is really an incredible achievement. Seeing Kruder as overall winner, Janja's win with four boulders on sight, and hearing the Slovenian anthem three times today is truly unforgettable." In Bavaria, four Slovenians competed in the final among 12 climbers, as many as the Japanese, plus two Frenchmen, a Russian woman, and Austrian Jakob Schubert, who finished third.



Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO), who missed more than half of the bouldering season due to her matura exams, was the only one to top all four boulders on her first attempt in the elite competition and celebrated new bouldering gold. "This was probably my best bouldering performance so far; I think it happened for the first time that I climbed all final boulders on the first try. Probably also because I really missed bouldering competitions, I was very happy for the final, I climbed without pressure and really enjoyed it, especially since the fans and atmosphere in Munich are exceptional. It's crazy that I was overall fourth with only three events; of course, I want to win the overall bouldering standings in the future," shone the 19-year-old Carinthian, who already has her mind on the September World Championships in Innsbruck, where she aims for medals in both bouldering and lead. "What happened today was completely crazy; I can't see a better scenario! I'm very happy for Vezonik's win, which he really deserves; Jernej superbly ended an excellent season with the overall win, and we celebrated a double Slovenian men's victory; my climbing in Munich was also great, I proved to myself that I'm excellently prepared, but I still think I need to dedicate more training to boulders," Garnbret accompanied the historic team success, leaving behind the current top two female boulderers in the world, Japanese Miho Nonaka, also this year's overall Bouldering World Cup winner, and Akiyo Noguchi in third. The other Slovenian finalist, Katja Kadić (PK Škofja Loka), was excellent fifth, as is her overall placement in the Bouldering World Cup, while Garnbret is overall fourth despite competing in only three of the seven events.



"I can't describe how we experienced today's dream evening; you had to be here to see what these successes mean to us. The atmosphere was exceptional, many fans came from Slovenia, we celebrated together. Crazy! For Gregor, it's the first win, he experienced it very emotionally. He had already shown before that he was well prepared; today he climbed excellently, as in the qualifications. Jernej secured the overall win, historic for Slovenia, already in the semifinals, which meant only a relaxed final for him, which he finished second for dream double men's podium. Janja won suverely despite the bouldering break and showed a really good performance in all rounds of the competition," was justifiably proud Gorazd Hren, the selector of the Slovenian sport climbing team, which has won the Nations' Cup in lead for the last two years and this year climbed to second place in bouldering with excellent team results, having to concede superiority only to the Japanese team.



The sport climbing caravan awaits the season's climax between September 6 and 16—the World Championships in lead, bouldering, and speed in Innsbruck, followed by three World Cup events in lead climbing, the first on September 29 and 30 in Kranj.