Kruder wins first World Cup victory in Switzerland

Sports climber Jernej Kruder could hardly have started the season better, as he climbed to his maiden World Cup victory in his career at the opening round of the 2018 World Cup in bouldering on April 14 in Swiss Meiringen, with Janja Garnbret complementing his success with second place. Katja Kadić was also in the top ten, finishing eighth.



Jernej Kruder (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) won in great style at the opening World Cup competition for sport climbers in bouldering in Meiringen, Switzerland. "I enjoyed it immensely, everything really clicked, the most important thing is that I enjoyed it from start to finish, which is certainly one of the reasons I made it to the podium. Besides relaxation, there were other factors, including starting first so there was less pressure, the holds were fresher, I was also well physically prepared, and everything came together into a winning whole; the crowd helped a bit too," glowed the 27-year-old from Celje, who stood on the World Cup podium for the first time last year and was world runner-up in bouldering in 2014, now achieving his first World Cup win: "I never lost motivation that it would actually happen one day. I competed in my first senior bouldering competition in 2008, and after ten years my dream came true." In the men's final, Kruder was the only one to top three boulders, falling on the last move just below the top on the fourth. He left Japan's Tomoo Narasaki in second place, third was Russia's Aleksey Rubtsov.



Kruder's gold was complemented by Janja Garnbret's (Šaleški AO) silver; in her 27th World Cup final, she claimed her 24th medal, the sixth in bouldering. The 19-year-old from Koroška, who topped all four boulders in the final, had to concede to only Japan's Miho Nonaka, with Akiyo Noguchi, also from Japan, in third. "I'm very satisfied that I showed what I wanted in all rounds. It's a shame the final boulders were too easy, as you couldn't make up for a mistake from the previous one. I wish they had been harder, but otherwise it was great. Before the competition, my goal in Meiringen was to top one boulder, as last year and the year before in the final here I didn't top any and finished sixth or fifth; this year I even made the podium," rejoiced Garnbret, who will compete only in the next World Cup boulder event in Moscow, then focus on her matura; after that, in July, the lead World Cup awaits, where she has been nearly unbeatable the last two years. This year's competitive highlight for sport climbers will be the World Championships in Innsbruck in September.



"I'm thrilled, happy; for the start of the season, I can say it's above expectations. I knew Jernej and Janja were well prepared, but I wouldn't have dared say before the first competition that the results would be so excellent. Besides them, I'd praise Katja, who missed the final by just one attempt; with a finger injury, she achieved a top result, as did Mia in 20th place. The team started the season superbly; those who didn't qualify for the semifinals lacked some experience, though they didn't climb badly," said selector of the Slovenian sport climbing team Gorazd Hren, whose right-hand men are coaches Luka Fonda and Urh Čehovin, not hiding his enthusiasm.



In Switzerland, twelve members of the Slovenian sport climbing team represented Slovenian colors. Katja Kadić (PK Škofja Loka) also qualified for the top ten with 8th place, Mia Krampl (AO PD Kranj) was 20th in the top twenty. Tjaša Slemenšek (Šaleški AO) was 27th, Anže Peharc (AO PD Kranj) 29th, Mina Markovič (ŠPK Plus) 31st, Urška Repušič (ŠPO APD Kozjak) 41st, Vita Lukan (ŠPO PD Radovljica) 45th, Domen Škofic (ŠPO PD Radovljica) 47th, Gregor Vezonik (AK Ravne) 51st, and Zan Sudar (AK Ravne) 81st.



The next stop on the World Cup bouldering tour will be April 21 and 22 in Moscow, followed by the Asian tour.