Vita Lukan European Youth Champion 2017 in Lead

Slovenian sport climber Vita Lukan (ŠPO PD Radovljica) won the titles of European Youth Champion 2017 in Lead in the Russian city of Perm on September 30, succeeding her national team colleague Janja Garnbret in the cadet category. The 16-year-old from Radovljica also became the overall winner of the European Youth Cup 2017 in Lead and, alongside Lučka Rakovec (ŠD Proteus), earned a ticket to the Youth Olympic Games next year.



Perm hosted the European Youth Championships in sport climbing in the disciplines of Lead and Speed from September 28 to October 1, while the Bouldering part took place in mid-September in Slany, Czech Republic. The Russian event concluded the season for younger competitors, and the Slovenian national team once again excelled in Lead, with seven finalists and five placements in the top five.



Cadet Vita Lukan (ŠPO PD Radovljica) shone, climbing to the title of European Youth Champion 2017 in Lead and thus succeeding her national team colleague Janja Garnbret, who won in the cadet category last year and the year before. "Already after good qualifications and semifinals, I knew I was competitive with the best. I am very satisfied with the result of the competition, especially because of the relatively relaxed climbing in the final, which allowed me a focused and thoughtful performance. What makes me happiest is that at the top of the final route I really managed to give my all, which gives this victory even more value, as the differences between the finalists were very small and even the smallest details decided. I could hardly imagine a better conclusion to the youth season, as the gold medal at this competition, besides the title of youth European champion, also brought me first place in the overall standings of the European Cup. With this, the European youth season for this year is over, but in November there is still the senior World Cup in Kranj, which I am already looking forward to very much," enthused the 16-year-old Radovljičanka, who left second-placed French climber Nolwenn Arc and third-placed Austrian Celina Schoibl behind her, and in the cadet category up to 18 years also won the overall victory in the European Youth Cup 2017 in Lead. Lukan already reached for the highest accolades last year, as she won bronze in Lead and silver in Bouldering at the World Youth Championships, and with a good season this year she secured participation in the Youth Olympic Games, which will take place next year in Buenos Aires. The other Slovenian participant in the Youth Olympics is Lučka Rakovec (ŠD Proteus), who finished eighth in Perm, but secured her spot in Buenos Aires with good results at the World Youth Championships in early September in Innsbruck. In the cadet category, Mia Krampl (AO PD Kranj) also performed well in fifth place and Urška Repušič (ŠPO APD Kozjak) in 12th place.



In addition to the excellent cadets, the Slovenian youth national team in sport climbing had finalists among the cadets as well, where Luka Potočar (ŠPO PD Radovljica) approached the podium with fourth place, Maja Majcen (ŠPO PD Celje Matica) was fifth among the older girls, similarly Andrej Polak (PK Kamnik) was fifth among the older boys, and Tjaša Slemenšek (Šaleški AO) was seventh among the youth women. In Perm, Letija Fajfar (AO PD Kranj), 11th among the older girls, and Anej Batagelj (PCL), 20th among the older boys, also competed.



"The European Championship was successful for our national team. Vita became the European champion in Lead among cadets, which is a top achievement. In addition, I am glad that seven of our representatives qualified for the final. We had five competitors in the top five, which is an important fact for me," was satisfied also the selector of the Slovenian youth national team Anže Štremfelj, and regarding the Youth Olympics he said: "I am satisfied that we have representatives of our national team at the Olympic Games, which I consider very important for the recognition of the youth national team and climbing in Slovenia in general."