Škofic with first World Cup victory

Škofic with first World Cup victory, Markovičeva second in Puurs.



Sports climber Domen Škofic crowned the fifth World Cup lead competition of this year on Sunday, September 27, 2015, in Belgian Puurs with his premier World Cup victory. Slovenia's most successful sport climber Mina Markovič consolidated her lead in the overall World Cup lead standings with second place.

Domen Škofic (ŠPO PD Radovljica) impressed in Puurs with exceptional climbing and, as the only one to top all four routes, convincingly earned the gold medal at the fifth World Cup lead climbing competition - and thus his first World Cup win. "I still can't quite grasp what happened yesterday... I'm indescribably happy with my first victory and that I managed to clip all the tops on the competition routes, I really wouldn't have imagined it even in my dreams! I like that the first victory was a sovereign one! Besides all the numbers, the most important thing for me is that I truly enjoyed the competition from the first to the last moment, was relaxed on the wall, and climbed the moves as I am capable of," summed up Škofic his victorious impressions.



Second place went to Austrian Jakob Schubert, third to Spaniard Ramon Julian Puigblanque. In the men's World Cup standings, Frenchman Gautier Supper currently leads (357 points), second is Jakob Schubert (327 points), third Frenchman Romain Desgranges (307 points), Domen Škofic is fifth (282 points).



Slovenian success was complemented by Mina Markovič (ŠPK Plus) with second place. "I'm very satisfied with the climbing in the final and the topped route, as clipping the top, especially in the final route, is really a nice feeling. Unfortunately, due to slightly worse climbing in previous rounds of the competition, the victory slipped away, but I'm very happy with the repeated podium! And of course, I can't wait for the upcoming competitions," said the Ptuj native, who with excellent climbing in the final gained a place and thus trailed only the winner, South Korean Jain Kim. Third place was taken by Belgian Anak Verhoeven.



With her four podiums this year, Markovič has solidified her lead in the overall World Cup standings in the women's competition (420 points) ahead of Austrian Jessica Pilz (345 points) and third-placed Jain Kim (334 points).



In Puurs, two more Slovenians competed: Tjaša Kalan (AO PD Kranj) finished 10th and Urban Primožič (PK Škofja Loka) 12th. Selector and coach of the Slovenian sport climbing national team Roman Krajnik is celebrating along with his athletes: "What else can I say but that we are all incredibly happy. Quietly we expected Domen's first victory, but somehow it hadn't worked out this season, yet he climbed this competition exactly as he knows how and is currently prepared. He topped all routes, from qualifications through semifinals and finally the final route, and thus more than deservedly celebrated his first World Cup victory. Mina also climbed the final route excellently and topped it, but due to slightly weaker climbing in the semifinal, she had to settle for second place, which is still an excellent result. Tjaša and Urban had a bit of bad luck in the semifinal and thus finished the competition in 10th and 12th places."



Sport climbers have two more competitions left until the end of the season. The next one will be on October 17 and 18 in Wujiang, China, and on November 14 and 15, 2015, we will be able to cheer live for our most successful representatives, as the final World Cup event is traditionally hosted by Kranj.