SLOJanja Garnbret grabs third consecutive gold in Koper with 4 Slovenian finalists
Koper was treated to yet another home nation gold from the climbing queen. Janja Garnbret is a gold medal winning machine, and the machine keeps on rolling in Koper as the double Olympic champion won yet again for the 31st Lead gold of her career, and the 49th in all disciplines. Lučka Rakovec, Rosa Rekar and Lucija Tarkuš also climbed in the final in front of the home crowd. In the men's competition, Sorato Anraku won.
Double Olympic champion Janja Garnbret won yet again for the 31st Lead gold of her career, and the 49th in all disciplines. (photo credit: Grega Valančič)
Double Olympic champion Janja Garnbret won yet again for the 31st Lead gold of her career, and the 49th in all disciplines. Tied with Seo Chaehyun in qualification and the semi-final, Garnbret showed her class reaching hold 47+ in the final run, a footslip away from yet another top. Talking about the latest addition to her golden tally Garnbret said: "I was reminded before the competition that this could be my 31st win, but I honestly wasn't thinking about it before the final. But now I can think about it and I am really happy about it. This year marks the tenth year since I made my debut in Chamonix at a senior World Cup and it's crazy how far I have come. A 31st win is unbelievable."
Speaking of the strength of the women's competition Garnbret said: "Every year girls are training hard and trying to catch me and I am trying to stay one or two steps ahead of them, but they are very strong and I can feel it so I need to try hard which is great." Seo had to settle for the seventh silver of her Lead career falling on hold 38+, a strong showing ahead of a World Championships in her home nation, South Korea, in a few weeks' time. Having won gold and silver before, Italian Laura Rogora now has a full set taking bronze with a climb of 37+.
The British climber Erin McNeice finished in a fourth-place, in fifth was Lučka Rakovec who has impressed after coming back to the World Cup circuit following her time away to recover from Thyroid cancer. She climbed to hold 28+ in the final. Also on hold 28+ was Belgium's Heloïse Doumont who scored her PB result in sixth. Two Slovenian climbers made up the seventh and eighth spots with Rosa Rekar on hold 26+ and Lucija Tarkuš on hold 13+. Despite the low fall it was also a personal best result for Tarkuš.
The men's podium had an Olympic feel to it as all three have been on the summer showpiece steps, and once again returned on the IFSC World Cup circuit. Sorato Anraku was the one to excel in the final reaching hold 48+ to take his seventh Lead gold medal. The young Japanese climber has been pushing for medals and pushing for tops every time he takes to the Lead wall, but this time he broke a few hearts by reaching one more hold than Alberto Ginés López and denying him a first World Cup win.
The Spanish climber screamed as he came down from the wall after reaching hold 47+ which was the high point to beat, but with Anraku and current Olympic champion Toby Roberts to come, nothing was set in stone. Anraku could go higher to take the gold, but Roberts fell one hold short on hold 46+ meaning Ginés López had silver and Roberts the bronze. It was the fourth medal of those colours for each of the climbers.
Just off the podium was Yoshida Satone (Japan) on hold 45 for fourth place ahead of the comeback climber Jakob Schubert (Austria) in his first comp of the year - good timing with World Championships just weeks away. In sixth was a climber in his first final, Indonesia's Putra Tri Ramadani. He did well to climb to hold 40+ and easily scored a PB result in Koper. Czech Adam Ondra finish seventh and Japanese Suzuki Neo eighth.
Before the final act of the IFSC Climbing World Cup Koper 2025, three big names in Slovenian sport climbing - Domen Škofic, Gregor Vezonik and Martin Bergant - said goodbye to their fans. Amid emotional applause, they received a PZS souvenir from the head of the PZS Sport Climbing Commission, Marko Pogačar, and symbolically said goodbye to a competitive path that is turning into new chapters.
Janja Garnbret grabs third consecutive gold in Koper with 4 Slovenian finalists (photo credit: Grega Valančič)
Speaking of the strength of the women's competition Garnbret said: "Every year girls are training hard and trying to catch me and I am trying to stay one or two steps ahead of them, but they are very strong and I can feel it so I need to try hard which is great." Seo had to settle for the seventh silver of her Lead career falling on hold 38+, a strong showing ahead of a World Championships in her home nation, South Korea, in a few weeks' time. Having won gold and silver before, Italian Laura Rogora now has a full set taking bronze with a climb of 37+.
Lučka Rakovec has impressed with fifth place in Koper after coming back to the World Cup circuit. (photo credit: Grega Valančič)
The British climber Erin McNeice finished in a fourth-place, in fifth was Lučka Rakovec who has impressed after coming back to the World Cup circuit following her time away to recover from Thyroid cancer. She climbed to hold 28+ in the final. Also on hold 28+ was Belgium's Heloïse Doumont who scored her PB result in sixth. Two Slovenian climbers made up the seventh and eighth spots with Rosa Rekar on hold 26+ and Lucija Tarkuš on hold 13+. Despite the low fall it was also a personal best result for Tarkuš.
Rosa Rekar was happy with seventh place in front of her home crowd. (photo credit: Grega Valančič)
The men's podium had an Olympic feel to it as all three have been on the summer showpiece steps, and once again returned on the IFSC World Cup circuit. Sorato Anraku was the one to excel in the final reaching hold 48+ to take his seventh Lead gold medal. The young Japanese climber has been pushing for medals and pushing for tops every time he takes to the Lead wall, but this time he broke a few hearts by reaching one more hold than Alberto Ginés López and denying him a first World Cup win.
Eighth place in Koper, a personal best result for Lucija Tarkuš. (photo credit: Grega Valančič)
The Spanish climber screamed as he came down from the wall after reaching hold 47+ which was the high point to beat, but with Anraku and current Olympic champion Toby Roberts to come, nothing was set in stone. Anraku could go higher to take the gold, but Roberts fell one hold short on hold 46+ meaning Ginés López had silver and Roberts the bronze. It was the fourth medal of those colours for each of the climbers.
Just off the podium was Yoshida Satone (Japan) on hold 45 for fourth place ahead of the comeback climber Jakob Schubert (Austria) in his first comp of the year - good timing with World Championships just weeks away. In sixth was a climber in his first final, Indonesia's Putra Tri Ramadani. He did well to climb to hold 40+ and easily scored a PB result in Koper. Czech Adam Ondra finish seventh and Japanese Suzuki Neo eighth.
In Koper, three big names in Slovenian sport climbing - Domen Škofic, Gregor Vezonik and Martin Bergant - said goodbye to their fans. (photo credit: Grega Valančič)
Before the final act of the IFSC Climbing World Cup Koper 2025, three big names in Slovenian sport climbing - Domen Škofic, Gregor Vezonik and Martin Bergant - said goodbye to their fans. Amid emotional applause, they received a PZS souvenir from the head of the PZS Sport Climbing Commission, Marko Pogačar, and symbolically said goodbye to a competitive path that is turning into new chapters.
