Janja Garnbret is World Games Athlete of Month
Slovenian Janja Garnbret was awarded Athlete of September 2018 by The World Games Association.
Garnbret, 19 years old, is The World Games 2017 silver medallist in Lead, and at the most recent IFSC World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria, she took gold in Bouldering, silver in Lead and gold in the Combined event, featuring the Combined format of the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Combined and Lead season champion in 2016 and 2017, Garnbret placed 1st or 2nd in all but eight Bouldering and Lead IFSC World Cup events in which she competed since the beginning of the 2016 season. In 2016, the Slovenian star also won gold in Lead at the biannual IFSC World Championships and topped the Bouldering and Lead results at the IFSC Youth World Championships.
Garnbret started competing when she was 14 years old, “Through the years I started training harder and harder,” she said.
“And I realised that I could become the best climber in the world. I love it when adrenaline goes through your veins, when you are on your own on the wall and you try to give your best and utilise everything from your training. Everyone is watching and cheering for you.”
Besides school and climbing, she does not have time for much else, “And even if I had time for anything else, I would still go climbing,” she said.
As a piece of advice for young athletes, Garnbret said, “Focus on your goals, work hard for them and never give up.”
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