Škofic with third win this year

On the fourth round of the Lead World Cup, Domen Škofic claimed a new victory in Imst on August 20, 2016, while silver medallist Mina Markovič stepped onto the podium for the first time this year. After her initial three consecutive wins, young Janja Garnbret placed fifth this time due to a mistake in the final, and Tjaša Kalan was seventh in her first final of the year.



Domen Škofic (ŠPO PD Radovljica), second after Friday's semi-final, once again proved his winning mettle on Saturday evening, securing his third win of the year on the fourth round - and with it, further solidifying his lead in the Lead World Cup overall standings. "I have fond memories of Imst from junior competitions. This time everything came together again and I showed excellent climbing in all rounds. For the final, I ran out of time scouting the route and didn't even manage to see the last section to the end, so I had to completely improvise the final part and, honestly, I have no idea how I managed those last few moves. I gave it everything, but still, I didn't think it would be enough. Already my third win this year, I can't believe it. I've definitely exceeded my expectations!" enthused the 22-year-old from Radovljica, who beat second-placed Austrian Jakob Schubert and third-placed Frenchman Gautier Supper.



Three Slovenians competed in Saturday evening's final, while other countries had only one representative each. Mina Markovič (ŠPK Plus), who competes only in selected events this season and was already second in the semi-final, returned to the podium with second place. "The Imst competition has always been close to my heart, and this time too, with good climbing, I've ensured it remains a fond memory. I'm satisfied with what I showed and the feelings throughout the competition, perhaps least with the final performance where I made quite a few mistakes, but somehow managed to recover from them. Maybe I rushed too much at the end, as I had strength left for a few more moves, but overall, I have to be really pleased with everything, the competition and what I've improved and gained in the last month. Thanks to the guys, Gorazd, Urh, and Luka, for all the support and help!" rejoiced the 28-year-old from Ptuj. In front of the home crowd, Austrian Magdalena Röck won, with South Korean Jain Kim third.



"I already ran out of time in qualifiers and semi-final, so I really didn't want that in the final too. I climbed fast and very tensely. That's why I climbed the whole route headlessly and made a mistake. I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I'll try to forget the competition and continue the next ones with my head held high and even more motivation, already next week in Arco," summed up 17-year-old Carinthian Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO), who slipped from third in the semi-final to fifth overall after a mistake in the final, thus for the first time since competing in the World Cup, missing out on a top-three finish, but still maintaining a solid overall lead in lead.



Tjaša Kalan (AO PD Kranj) qualified for the final for the first time this year and finished the Imst competition in seventh place. "After climbing the semi-final route, I didn't expect the final, so I was already very happy and satisfied then, as I achieved what I wanted. In the final route, I enjoyed it and was without any pressure. The climbing felt quite fluid and I'm very pleased with seventh place," said the 19-year-old from Kranj.



"Of course, I'm thrilled again with our competitors' performance, I'd praise all, but especially the four finalists delighted us. I'm glad I can count on Tjaša Kalan in the final again, who is nicely building form, Mina proved that despite a poor season start, she's shaping the top of the climbing scene again. Domen simply continues his winning streak with excellent climbing and proves he's hard to beat this year, while Janja's competition didn't go entirely to plan. A bit too burdened by time, as she ran out of time in qualifiers and semi-final, she tackled the final route and consequently made a mistake in the route details, unfortunately ending the climb much too early," assessed the performance of his charges in Imst, selector and coach of the Slovenian sport climbing national team Gorazd Hren.



Slovenia was also represented in Austria by Rebeka Kamin (AO PD Domžale), who took 16th place, Urban Primožič (PK Škofja Loka) in 17th, Veronika Meke (DPK Šmartno) and Milan Preskar (PK Škofja Loka), who both reached 31st place, and Martin Bergant (PK Škofja Loka) who was 32nd.



The sport climbing caravan moves next weekend, August 26 and 27, to Italian Arco, from September 14 to 18 awaits the World Championships in Paris. In October follow two World Cup rounds in China - October 18 and 19 in Wujiang and October 22 and 23 in Xiamen - and to end the season, November 26 and 27 in home Kranj.