Janja GarnbrettThe first injury couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Having broken her toe at the start of the Olympic qualifying season, the reigning Olympic champion and seven-time world gold medalist in sport climbing needed all her mental strength – and a pinch of creativity in her training – not to let circumstances get her down.
The added challenge also made them successful IFSC World Championships in Sport Climbing 2023 even more special this month.
Garnbet has already won gold in women’s bouldering and silver in lead climbing and is now looking forward to the new Olympic combined bouldering and lead climbing event which will serve as a qualifier for Paris 2024.
“I never take it for granted so I’m always very grateful to be able to compete and get on the podium regularly,” Garnbret told Olympics.com ahead of the bouldering and lead semifinals.
“I think I started quite well. I can confidently go into the second part of the world championship. I’m really excited to try the combined format. I already had the opportunity to try it last year at the European Championships in Munich, so it will be my second time. But I think I can climb there with confidence.”
“I was able to overcome my fears”
The most complicated routes, sore muscles and the toughest opponents couldn’t stop Garnbret from claiming her seventh world title on Saturday (5 August) in Bern.
What almost stopped the most successful competitive climber in history, however, was as small as a toe.
“I basically climbed in a slap and mine broken toe. So that’s it. “It was my first injury ever, so mentally it was definitely very tough, but I was lucky that it was just a toe,” said Garnbret of the injury she picked up in February at Slovenia’s first team training session in 2023.
Determined not to miss a workout during the crucial Olympic qualifying season, Garnbret adjusted her training to get the broken toe out of the equation.
“I was still able to work my upper body so I didn’t have to give up working out as much,” she said. “I was Climbing with one foot or without feet so I could do something else.
The recovery took longer than expected. Doctors first told Garnbret it would take three to four weeks for her foot to fully heal, but they later discovered that there was also a torn ligament, delaying recovery.
Rather than be disappointed, Garnbret viewed the situation as an opportunity to learn.
“It took longer to heal and it was very difficult mentally to overcome that fear, to regain confidence, to regain strength in the toe. The recovery took a long time, but it was worth it,” said the master climber. “It was my first injury in a year that you don’t wish for injuries, so it wasn’t perfect, but I made it through and I learned a lot from it.” And I think I’ll take that into the rest of my career become. If something like this happens again, I know how to react.
“I was able to overcome the fears, the doubts, the negative thoughts and I learned something from that,” Garnbret told Olympics.com of the first injury of her career.
Climbing for a ticket to their second Olympics
Garnbret won the women’s gold medal as sport climbing made its Olympic debut Tokyo 2020. The next games in Paris 2024 will have a new format and with it a new challenge for the climbers.
Instead of one set of medals being awarded in the combined speed, bouldering and lead competition, there will be two sets of medals, one in speed and one in the combined lead and bouldering competition. The change suits Garnbret, a bouldering and lead specialist.
“I love competing in both competitions,” she said. “That has changed over the years. I started out as a lead climber. I enjoyed the lead climbing competitions more, then I switched to bouldering and I enjoyed the bouldering competitions a lot more, but now I love both disciplines equally. Everyone has their own game, so there are four boulders in bouldering. You have to be really on point for 40 minutes, but you only get that lead on one try, so it’s a different game again. But I love both games.”
Garnbret’s first chance to qualify for Paris 2024 comes at this week’s IFSC World Sport Climbing Championships. The The three best athletes in the combined men’s and women’s competitions secure quotas until the next games and the newly promoted Slovenian is in a good position to be there.
The women’s combined semifinals will take place on Wednesday (9 August) and the final will follow on Friday (11 August).
“All the girls are super well prepared. They are hungry. You want to win. “They want to secure the Olympic place,” Garnbret said of their competition, which includes the defending champion Jessica Pilz from Austria. “Some are better at lead climbing and maybe a little less at bouldering, others are really good at bouldering and a little less at leading. I think so much can change and it also depends on the route setting. I think we’ll see.” I just have to do my best and be fully focused.”
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