8.05.2013
Today, May 8, 2013, a press conference was held in conference hall M of the hotel in Ljubljana ahead of the World Cup in bouldering competition, which will take place for the third time in a row in the municipality of Log – Dragomer (11 and 12 May 2013). All favorites for medals are coming to the competition, participation will again be record-breaking, also from the Slovenian side with Mina Markovič at the forefront.
The press conference was attended by the president of the organizing committee of the competition Lorin Möscha, the selector of the Slovenian senior national team in sport climbing Simon Margon, sport climbing coach Roman Krajnik, and competitors of the Slovenian national team in sport climbing at this World Cup event. Our national team has never been so numerous at World Cup bouldering events as it will compete in Log. Slovenian colors will be represented by as many as 5 girls and 8 boys: Mina MARKOVIČ, Mateja HOHKRAUT, Julija KRUDER, Katja KADIČ, Jera LENARDIČ and the boys Jernej KRUDER, Klemen BEČAN, Jure BEČAN, Urban PRIMOŽIČ, Domen ŠKOFIC, Jure RAZTRESEN, Gregor VEZONIK, Sergej EPIH. Unfortunately, the excellent Maja Vidmar will not participate in the competition, who originally intended to compete; she had to cancel her appearance due to an injury to her little finger.
In the sports park Log near Brezovica, everything is already prepared for the World Cup bouldering competition, when Log will come alive for the third consecutive time at the highest sports level at the end of the week, as it will host the world's best sport climbers. The wall is newly repainted (green), routes, interesting and colorful, are being set under the watchful eye of the route-setting team with domestic Simon Margon and Jacky Godoffe from France at the helm. Godoffe, a world-renowned route setter, did announce the end of his route-setting career last year, but due to the excellent atmosphere last year here in Log, he decided to come again. For the musical introduction, members of one of the most popular Slovenian rock bands Siddharta will take care on Friday at 22:00. Siddharta, which is connected to climbing also through Tomaž Humar, the film Sfinga and collaboration on World Cup events here in Log, will perform with Tomi Meglič at the forefront right under the climbing wall, where the world's best sport climbers will compete in qualifications the next day: men at 10:00, women at 16:00. Semi-finals and finals will be scheduled for Sunday at 12:00 and 19:00 (final). Otherwise, there will be varied action in Log also during Saturday and Sunday, when bike trial, climbing on the climbing tower, DJ Tey will be on the program, and the final part will be hosted by radio host and presenter Sašo Hribar.
A record number of competitors, 136 (11 more than last year) from 29 countries of the world (6 more than last year), are registered again for the competition in Log. Otherwise, 5 more were registered for the competition in Kitzbühl, but around 130 sport climbers competed. Among the world elite, in addition to last year's World Cup winner in Log Markovič, there is the winner of the overall World Cup standings in bouldering 2012 and all three this year's bouldering events, Austrian Anna Stöhr, as well as excellent Japanese Akiyo Noguchi, British Shauna Coxsey and American Alex Puccio. Among the men, last year's World Cup winner in Log and overall World Cup winner in bouldering 2012 Russian Rustam Gelmanov is registered, as well as the winner of the last World Cup event this year in bouldering Austrian Jakob Schubert, 2012 world champion in bouldering Russian Dmitrii Sharafutdinov, Austrian Kilian Fischhuber, French Guillaume Glairon Mondet and others.
That the competition is strong and that the level of climbing difficulty is rising from year to year is realized by all our competitors, as well as our top card and the world's best sport climber Mina Markovič, winner of the World Cup in lead and combined 2011 and 2012 and last year's winner of the World Cup in bouldering in Log. At the last IFSC World Cup in bouldering 2013 in Austrian Kitzbühl, Mina Markovič achieved an excellent 5th place, Jernej Kruder 6th, "among the semi-finalists there were as many as 5 Slovenians, which is more than an excellent foundation for the competition on home soil," highlighted coach Krajnik on the improving readiness of the Slovenian team from competition to competition.
Mina Markovič said about the preparations and readiness for the competition: "In bouldering, we already have three competitions behind us this year, I did not perform the most successfully in the first two, but I think that the preparations have been at a very high level all year, also my physical condition is very good, it may have caused some worse result precisely because the climbing was too controlled, but I think that especially with the last preparations in Germany I gained a bit more feel for boulders and improved the climbing itself. The result in Kitzbühl confirmed this, so I can go to the competition in Log relaxed and climb as I know how." To the question of where she prefers to compete, at home or abroad, she said: "I still prefer to compete in competitions abroad, far from home, however, the home crowd adds that atmosphere and extra motivation for a few more moves, which is also reflected in beautiful climbing and good results."
Selector Simon Margon said about the Slovenian team at the competition and expectations: "The team is the largest this year at World Cup bouldering events. Some newcomers have shown good performances in preparations and training and with coach Roman Krajnik we decided to give them a chance to show on the home competition how trained they are. As for the others: Mina and Kruder have shown that they are capable of finals and even podiums – with good climbing this can happen, Klemen is certainly capable of that too. For the other boys and girls, I will be very satisfied if they reach the semi-finals."
The organizer of the competition is the Sport Climbing Commission of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, the organizer is the Korenjak Sport Climbing Club. The competition will take place in any weather, as the organizer has provided a huge tent.
Slovenian team the most numerous so far at World Cup bouldering events. Qualifications in the Sports Park Log will be on Saturday, men starting at 10:00, women at 16:00. On Sunday, semi-finals (at 12:00) and the grand final starting at 19:00 will follow. Last year in Log, Russian Rustam Gelmanov won, among the women our best Mina Markovič.
