The outcome of the final, however, was only decided at the end of the fourth and decisive boulder, which only Garnbret managed to top after three attempts, eventually bursting in tears as the 3,000 fans that filled the venue celebrated her victory.
“I was a little bit stressed today, to be honest. First, I very much enjoyed the semi-final today, it was a hard round, the boulders were very hard, but this is what we train for. The final felt a little bit easier, I needed to stay focused until the end, and I’m happy that I managed to do it, I’m happy for the last boulder which was the hardest. It was a great test before Paris, I feel great,” said Garnbret moments after the final concluded.
The 25-year-old from Slovenj Gradcu finished with four tops and four zones, placing ahead of 17-year-old teammate Jennifer Eucharia Buckley and 16-year-old Annie Sanders of the USA.
“Youngsters are coming, I’m not that young anymore! It would be sad if no-one would be coming after me. I always try to stay focused and sharp to beat them,” added the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist.
Both Buckley and Sanders concluded their final with three tops and three zones, only failing to solve problem number four. Buckley, competing in her first-ever Boulder World Cup, managed to place ahead of her US rival thanks to one attempt-to-top less. Both Buckley’s silver and Sanders’ bronze are the first World Cup medal won by the two young climbers.
Japan’s Nakamura Mao concluded just outside of the medal positions, taking fourth place and recording her best-ever results at a World Cup event. Tokyo 2020 Olympian Jessica Pilz of Austria placed fifth, and Fanny Gibert of France closed in sixth position.
Local hero Pilz got off to a good start, taking the top on the first of the four final boulder problems in the sixth attempt. She came close several times on the second, but had to settle for the zone rating. In the third boulder, on the unloved slab (flat wall), she also fought for the top - in vain. The same happened to her on the fourth boulder, where only the winner Janja Garnbret (SLO) was able to take the top.
"When you're in the final, you want to perform better and get on the podium, but I can't be dissatisfied. The top on the first boulder was really cool, I've rarely experienced an atmosphere like that. Unfortunately, there were too many of my weaknesses in the final round and I couldn't quite keep up. But it was cool to be part of this show," said Pilz.
