{"id":587765,"date":"2025-06-27T18:47:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T22:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gearjunkie.com\/?p=587765"},"modified":"2025-06-27T18:47:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T22:47:33","slug":"janja-garnbret-innsbruck-world-cup-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gearjunkie.com\/climbing\/janja-garnbret-innsbruck-world-cup-win","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Victory: Olympic Champion Janja Garnbret Makes Triumphant Return to Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The term G.O.A.T. gets thrown around a lot in professional sports, but in competition climbing, perhaps no one deserves the title more than Janja Garnbret. <\/strong>After taking a 9-month hiatus away from World Cup competitions, the two-time Olympic champion from Slovenia won gold in bouldering at the Innsbruck World Cup today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 26-year-old’s resume<\/a> is stacked: 47 World Cup wins in bouldering and lead events, 10 overall World Cup titles, and eight titles at the World Championships. Since climbing was introduced at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she’s won gold twice<\/a>, cementing her dominance in the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the midst of all of this success, Garnbret consciously chose to take a break from competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After years of competitions and especially the Olympic year itself, which was physically and mentally demanding, I’ve decided to do it a bit differently this year,” she wrote on Instagram<\/a> in April. “Of course, I’m still training hard and upgrading my last year’s shape, but I also felt that I needed a bit more time away from competing.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She announced that she would only compete at three IFSC events in 2025: the World Cups in Innsbruck and Koper, and the World Championships in South Korea. Her return to competition in Innsbruck this week marked her first competition since the Koper World Cup<\/a> in September 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Janja
(Photo\/IFSC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Janja Garnbret Wins in First Comp Since ’24<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Initially, Garnbret looked solid but not unbeatable, placing fifth<\/a> in qualification and fourth in semi-finals. In the finals round, she appeared to reach a new gear, becoming the only athlete to top all four boulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She finished with a score of 99.3, far ahead of silver medalist Oriane Bertone (69.8) and bronze medalist Anon Matsufuji (59.5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt feels amazing. I didn\u2019t know how I would feel coming back, but this amazing Innsbruck crowd welcomed me back,\u201d Garnbret said in a press release<\/a>. \u201cI really enjoyed myself on the wall, had a bit of a shaky start in qualification, then it felt 100% better in semi-final, and now I felt like my old self in final.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou never forget how to compete, but being back after nine months, in the middle of the season, was not the easiest thing. I had a lot of doubts: \u2018Am I ready? Am I not? Am I even motivated?\u2019 But I\u2019m so glad I came back, I enjoyed it so much.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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