Slovenian trio in the fight for medals at the...

Slovenian trio fighting for medals at the paraclimbing world championship.



Tomorrow, the paraclimbing world championship begins in the French town of Briançon, where 210 paraclimbers from 24 countries will compete on 16 and 17 July. Slovenia's colors at this year's most important paraclimbing event will be represented under the leadership of selector Jurij Ravnik by representatives Tanja Glušič, Gregor Selak, and Matej Arh, who returned from the recent masters in Imst with three medals: Selak with gold, Arh with silver, and Glušič with bronze.







The Briançon 2019 World Championship is the most important challenge of the year for the Slovenian paraclimbing national team, which, thanks to Glušič and Selak, can already boast four precious medals from world championships combined. Slovenia will be represented in France by three members of the Slovenian paraclimbing national team: Tanja Glušič (AK Ravne) in the B2 visual impairment category, Gregor Selak (Društvo za razvoj plezalne kulture) in the RP3 mobility impairment category, and Matej Arh (AO PD Kranj) in the RP1 mobility impairment category.







"We started preparing for the season at the beginning of the year and I think we've timed our form well, as the results from Imst ultimately show. The world championship is always a story of its own. There are more and more competitors, we know some, others are still unknowns, but we prefer to focus on ourselves. I just hope the routes are set appropriately for the categories. The goal for all three competitors is the final; Grega certainly has the best chances for the podium, and we're quietly hoping for a medal. However, paraclimbing will soon need certain changes, as some competitors are placed in the wrong categories and physically stand out so much from the start that they have to make a gross mistake to not be at the top of the rankings. But sometimes you need a bit of luck in sports too, so we won't give up on any gold medal without a fight," emphasizes selector of the Slovenian paraclimbing national team Jurij Ravnik.







Deaf-blind climber Tanja Glušič, who also has Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism spectrum disorder, won a silver medal at the 2014 World Championship in Gijón - at that time still under her mother's guidance - the first Slovenian paraclimbing medal for Slovenia, and at last year's World Championship in Innsbruck under the guidance of coach Jurij Ravnik, she climbed to bronze. She also started this season with a bronze medal at the paraclimbing masters in Imst. "I'm going to the world championship without expectations because I don't know what routes will be set or how good the competition is. If there aren't too many long moves in the route, I have good chances for the final. I've been training according to the program since early February and I'm quite well prepared, so I hope for the best," says the 23-year-old from Prevalje, Slovenia's athlete of the year 2018 among the disabled.







With two bronze medals from world championships - in 2016 in Paris and 2018 in Innsbruck - Gregor Selak, a former member of the youth national team in sport climbing who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2014 and has successfully continued his sports career as a paraclimber since 2016, can also boast. "Before the world championship, I expect first place; I've been preparing for that all year and have timed my form well. I don't worry about the competition. Like last year, I'm training under Roman Krajnik and going for the win," is firmly determined the 30-year-old from Škofja Loka, who already won the masters in Imst at the start of the season at the end of June.







Awaiting his first world championship is Matej Arh, once a promising alpinist who has paraparesis after an accident in an iced waterfall in 2017, which is a partial spinal cord injury. From the navel down, he uses only 30 percent of his muscles, can partially move his legs, but cannot use his hips, ankles, glutes, or most muscles. "I want a podium spot, but I expect the final. Of course, as a debutant, I still have jitters, but I'll try to fight as best I can in the two qualification routes, and then we'll see," predicts the 25-year-old from Preddvor, who stepped onto the second step of the podium in Imst.







At the French climbing venue, competitions in various categories are scheduled for 16 and 17 July with morning qualifications and evening finals. Live broadcast will be via the website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).