Vita Lukan youth Olympic silver medalist...

Vita Lukan youth Olympic silver medalist in sport climbing.



Sport climber Vita Lukan won silver at the Youth Olympic Games, the first official sport climbing competition under the International Olympic Committee, on October 9 in Buenos Aires, thus securing Slovenia's first Olympic medal in sport climbing. With the same sum of results as Lukan but better placements in speed and difficulty, Austrian Sandra Lettner won. The other Slovenian representative in Argentina, Lučka Rakovec, placed 13th.



Sport climbing will debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but it was already held this year at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where 21 female sport climbers and as many male climbers competed for Olympic medals for the first time, including two members of the Slovenian youth national sport climbing team: youth athlete Vita Lukan and cadet Lučka Rakovec.



The so-called Olympic combination is a kind of climbing triathlon featuring speed, bouldering, and lead climbing. In Tuesday's final, the girls first competed in speed, where Vita Lukan (ŠPO PD Radovljica) did not particularly shine, placing 6th, while the fastest was Austrian Laura Lammer. The 17-year-old from Radovljica took control in bouldering, topping all four boulders to take first and climb to second overall in the sum of placements. Lead came last, Vita's signature discipline, as she had already become youth world champion in lead this year. In Argentina, in the too-easy final route that four girls topped, including the Slovenian favorite, the winner was decided by time - the fastest was German Hannah Meul, second Austrian Sandra Lettner, Lukan third. The first youth Olympic champion was Lettner, even though she and Lukan both had the same sum of results (18); what decided it was that the Austrian (2nd in lead and 3rd in speed and bouldering) was better than the Slovene (1st in bouldering, 3rd in lead, and 6th in speed) in two disciplines. Vita Lukan thus celebrated the silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games just days before her 18th birthday, with bronze going to the other Austrian finalist Laura Lammer. Fourth was German Meul, fifth Russian Elena Krasovskaia, sixth Japanese Mao Nakamura.



"Winning Slovenia's first Olympic medal in sport climbing is a unique achievement, as I only get one chance in life to compete at the Youth Olympic Games. I'm really happy, as this is a good result for me, for sport climbing, and for Slovenia," said proud 17-year-old Vita Lukan, satisfied with the climbing that brought her silver: "I didn't expect much in speed, then I climbed the boulders really well, quite smartly, maybe one attempt too many, but in the end it was enough for first. In lead I expected a harder route, so I took time to rest in the middle, ending up third despite topping. Given four finalists topped it, it could have been harder to show what we're capable of. I topped all four boulders and the lead route, which was enough for second place and I have nothing to reproach myself for. After lead I wasn't thrilled, but silver is silver at the Youth Olympics, so I'm satisfied."



Slovenia's colors at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires were also carried by 17-year-old Ljubljanan Lučka Rakovec (ŠD Proteus), who qualified 13th. "Sport climbing is a serious sport, interest is growing, competition is huge, many countries are in Buenos Aires, so it really deserves a spot at the Olympics. Great to be here, even better if we had individual disciplines besides the combination," said selector of the Slovenian youth sport climbing team Anže Štremfelj, assessing his protégés' performances: "Sport climbing represented itself well, but the final lead route was unfortunately not set at the level expected for such an important event. Great for the first Slovenian medal, a very good achievement. Vita was really well prepared, even if not competitive in speed, she dominated bouldering and lead, so her medal is well-deserved, a big success for her and Slovenian climbing. Lučka had potential for better, but bouldering didn't click in quals, and she couldn't make up in lead. I expected better, as she's capable of more than she showed."



The combination was first run in Olympic format at the recent Sport Climbing World Championships in Innsbruck, where Slovenian heroine Janja Garnbret (Šaleški AO), also world champion in bouldering and runner-up in lead, claimed the first gold in the discipline, but did not compete in Buenos Aires as only younger athletes qualified for the Youth Olympics.