Slovenian National Team Prepared for the World...

Slovenian National Team Prepared for the World Championship in Seoul.

Between September 20 and 28, 2025, the South Korean capital Seoul will host the World Championship in sport climbing and paraclimbing. The best sport climbers and paraclimbers of this season will compete for medals, including a strong Slovenian national team.

The Slovenian colors will be represented by a nine-member team of sport climbers led by selector Gorazd Hren. The biggest Slovenian asset is undoubtedly Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO), two-time Olympic champion, eight-time world champion, and one of the greatest icons of sport climbing. In Seoul, she is aiming for a golden double - in bouldering, she defends her world champion title from Bern 2023, and in lead, she wants to step on the top podium again after second place two years ago. In lead, Lučka Rakovec (ŠPO PD Radovljica), Rosa Rekar (PK FA), Lucija Tarkuš (AK Impol Slovenska Bistrica), and Mia Krampl (AO PD Kranj) will also compete in the women's category, and Luka Potočar (ŠPO PD Radovljica) in the men's. In bouldering, besides Janja Garnbret, who will compete in both disciplines, we will also follow Jennifer Buckley (PK Scena), Katja Debevec (PK Scena), and Anže Peharc (PK FA).

The climbers competing in lead traveled to Seoul at the beginning of the week, and today the bouldering team joins them. The team feels good; before the start of the competition, they have two to three more trainings and a rest day, then qualifications begin. There will be a few free days in between, followed by semifinals and finals. Selector Gorazd Hren highlighted after arriving in Seoul: "We go round by round. First, we are focused on qualifications. I believe we will successfully check them off, then do some more training. Only then does it get serious with the semifinal, and I believe finals until the end."

About expectations and preparations before the World Championship, the highlight of her short competitive season, Janja Garnbret, the current Olympic champion and world champion in bouldering and vice-champion in lead, spoke: "I'm really looking forward to the World Championship. I'm well prepared; I arrived in Seoul a few days ago, adjusted to the time difference, and fully acclimatized. Clearly, the World Championship is the competitive peak of the season, so I want to show my best climbing this year and enjoy it. In South Korea, there's always a good atmosphere; they really love climbing, and all that adds to the motivation."

After a longer absence due to illness, Lučka Rakovec returned to competitions this season and summed up her feelings like this: "Regarding goals, I feel like I've already exceeded them this season with previous results. Also at this competition, I hope to climb as best as possible and fight for the final. The last trainings and the competition in Koper were good, so that's a nice provision for the World Championship."

For the young Rosa Rekar, who won the junior world champion title in lead last year, this will be her first World Championship in the senior category. This season, she has already placed in the finals of World Cup competitions and is already looking forward to the start: "I'll be competing at the World Championship for the first time and I'm really looking forward to climbing. I can't wait for the competition to begin. My goal is to climb and show a performance I can be proud of, to enjoy climbing, and maybe make it to the final."

Lucija Tarkuš, who experienced her premiere appearance at the World Championship in 2023 in Bern, said before the start: "Of course, I'm really looking forward to the championship. Usually, these championships are a bit higher level than World Cups. I wouldn't specifically talk about a result goal, but I hope I can show my best climbing. First qualifications, then semifinal, and we'll see what happens. But I'm really looking forward and can't wait for the competition to start."

Mia Krampl, who won silver medals in lead and combined at the World Championships in 2029 and 2021, but things didn't go according to plan this season, spoke about her feelings: "My only goal for this championship is to climb. Without chasing results, without mistakes, and really give everything I have in the given route. If I succeed, I'll be satisfied with my climbing." She feels good at the venue and adds: "We have some more training ahead, it's important to stay activated, maintain form, regenerate well, and especially 'tune our heads' for the competition."

Luka Potočar, who stood on the winner's podium at the 2021 World Championship in Moscow and won a silver medal in lead, emphasized about the last days before qualifications: "I feel good. After Koper, I did a lot of good and hard trainings, so I'm satisfied with how I used the time between Koper and Seoul. Given this season, the first goal is the final. We have a few more days until the competition, some more training, then a rest day and the competition. Nothing surprising, more or less activation so that the feeling before the competition is good."

Jennifer Buckley, who celebrated a silver medal in bouldering at the junior World Championship in Seoul two years ago, and last year a gold in Guiyang, China, revealed before her premiere appearance in the senior category: "I can't wait for my first World Championship in seniors. I know I've never been so well physically and mentally prepared for a competition. I have high expectations. I don't want to talk about numbers, although I have very specific goals. I know it's best to focus and stay in the moment, and hold that until the competition, so I can execute the given rounds as best as possible. All I can say is that I can't wait and I think it will be really good."

Katja Debevec, who missed some competitions in this season's World Cup due to a finger injury, is satisfied before the start: "I have to say that the trainings in the last month went according to plan. I enjoyed the trainings, form was growing. I'm focused and really looking forward to performing at the World Championship."

Anže Peharc has one of the best seasons in his career behind him and looks optimistically towards the start of the competition: "Until the start of the World Championship, I only have a little maintenance of readiness left, two, maybe three trainings, and action at the competition. For the goals themselves, I haven't set anything specific; I would like to maintain the sequence of placements in the semifinal, and then I know I'm in very good form and placement in the final is definitely possible. I want to climb in three rounds, but I know the third round is just a reward, so if it happens, I'll really just enjoy climbing."

In Seoul, three paraclimbers will also compete at the World Paraclimbing Championship: Tanja Glušič (AK Ravne) with guide Mitja Proje in category B1, Manca Smrekar (AO PD TAM Maribor) in category AU3, and Matej Arh (AO PD Kranj) in category AL1. To questions about expectations, the selector of the paraclimbing national team Marko Guna answered: "Expectations or wishes for a medal are present, and all candidates have good chances, but the competition will be demanding and they don't underestimate it. On the evening before the start of the event, the competitors get a recording of the qualification routes so they can somewhat prepare for the initial part and know what to expect."

The most experienced Slovenian paraclimber at the World Championship, Tanja Glušič, said that the path to Seoul didn't go without complications, but after the first trainings, the feeling is much better: "After training, the feeling improved; we're getting to know the weather and getting used to the humidity. At the competition, I expect to perform well and beat the other competitors, as I feel excellently prepared for the competition. The preparations were great, so I'm counting on a good result."

As Manca Smrekar emphasizes, despite initial obstacles, the most important thing is to stay focused: "Time difference, cultural shock, temperatures, and new food. All this leads us to the World Championship, which will represent the peak and resolution of everything we've built up to this moment. This is the moment of truth, when we have to show perfection and flawlessly execute everything we've honed to achieve that desired gold podium. If I may speak on behalf of all, I'm convinced that deep inside, we all want victory."

Schedule of the World Climbing and Paraclimbing Championship Seoul 2025

Saturday, September 20
9:00 - paraclimbing, M/W qualifications (2:00 Slovenian time)

Sunday, September 21
9:00 - paraclimbing, M/W qualifications (2:00 Slovenian time)

Monday, September 22
9:00 - lead, M/W qualifications (2:00 Slovenian time)

Tuesday, September 23
9:00 - bouldering, M qualifications (2:00 Slovenian time)
16:00 - bouldering, W qualifications (9:00 Slovenian time)

Wednesday, September 24
13:30 - paraclimbing, M/W finals (6:30 Slovenian time)

Thursday, September 25
13:30 - paraclimbing, M/W finals (6:30 Slovenian time)

Friday, September 26
10:00 - lead, M/W semifinal (3:00 Slovenian time)
19:00 - lead, M/W final (12:00 Slovenian time)

Saturday, September 27
10:00 - bouldering, W semifinal (3:00 Slovenian time)
19:00 - bouldering, W final (12:00 Slovenian time)

Saturday, September 27
10:00 - bouldering, M semifinal (3:00 Slovenian time)
19:00 - bouldering, M final (12:00 Slovenian time)