Janja Garnbret claimed victory in sports climbing on Saturday, becoming a double Olympic champion in the Boulder & Lead event.
Garnbret, 25, secured the gold medal for her home country of Slovenia, her score surpassing Team USA’s Brooke Raboutou, who now holds the silver medal, and the other finalists. Despite the competitive spirit, the two athletes share a close friendship. After the competition concluded, they ran towards each other and embraced.
“We have an incredible friendship to where we both want each other to do our best, and that’s what happened today,” said Raboutou, according to . “And that feels really good to share that with somebody, and to represent the sport in a way that we know we’re doing it right and we’re doing it for ourselves.”
In the bouldering semi-finals, Garnbreat exhibited exceptional skill, achieving a near-perfect score of 99.6 points out of 100.
During the fourth boulder of the finals, Garnbret, who had been dominating the competition, encountered a setback when she fell and injured her finger. This allowed Raboutou to gain a slight advantage.
As the competition intensified, Garnbret managed to surpass Raboutou in the lead section of the finals, despite the potential injury. Her strong lead performance secured her the coveted podium position with a combined score of 168.5 points.
“I was really scared because my finger got stuck in between two holes and I couldn’t get it out,” Garnbret said, per the Washington Post. “But I had so much adrenaline that… I didn’t even care. I said to myself, ‘I don’t care if I’m missing a hand or a finger.’ I would go out there and climb the route.”
Nine years after making her World Cup debut at the age of 16, Garnbret has firmly established her place in climbing history. In 2019, Garnbret achieved a remarkable feat by winning all six events, a first in the sport’s history.
By adding her second Olympic gold medal, Garnbret has further solidified her title as ,” according to the official Olympics blog.