In Verd, a Slovenian village located twenty minutes’ drive from the flamboyant capital, Ljubljana, on the right, just before arriving at the Plezalni Center, lies a pile of broken-down cars. A few meters on the left, the discreet entrance to the small local climbing gym. The only distinctive signs: a range of clothing and accessories stamped “Janja”, as well as autographed posters of the climber whom the whole country calls only by her first name. This is the more or less secret lair where the first Olympic climbing champion in history trains every day, in the combined event: Janja Garnbret, her full name.
In the rain at the beginning of March, the gray place contrasts with the level of celebrity of the 25-year-old athlete, eight times world champion, the only one to have won all the stages of a bouldering World Cup, in 2019, and which has dominated the discipline for almost ten years. “If Janja were a tennis player, she would be Serena Williamsslips Tilen Lamut, his agent for two years. She is the embodiment of climbing. Everyone is asking for it. Even Borut Pahor, our former President of the Republic, wants her to speak in his podcast. »
The young blonde woman with the silhouette of a gymnast, who posed in glamorous outfits on the front page of the Slovenian edition of Cosmopolitan in March 2023, shows up today, white t-shirt and blue leggings. Spontaneous, smiling, accessible. Giving her all despite the fatigue from her recent trip to Japan, where she will regularly confront the hardest blocks on the planet. Literally flying over the catches of the spray wallspilling pan with its colorful maze, to the sound of techno music, joking with her trainer, Roman Krajnik, who teases her as soon as she falls.
Four months before her second Olympic Games, for which she qualified in August 2023, nothing seems to be able to affect the indestructible Slovenian. The one who started climbing on the door frames of her parents’ house as a child – where her hundreds of medals gleaned since the age of 9 are stored – has not changed anything in her routine. As usual, she invited a potential rival and nevertheless friend Brooke Raboutou, visibly over the moon.
“Be first everywhere and in everything”
“Climbing with Janja, who is quite simply the best climber of all time and who has so much fun, is an incredible chance to progress”, whispers the Franco-American. To which Janja’s coach responds with a laugh that training this young woman is impossible as she is so ” stubborn “praising his relentless Stakhanovism and his ability to bounce back. “One failed move in a 99.9% successful session can ruin everything. And when she loses, which means she finishes second, she gets very angry with her. But it only lasts a few minutes…”
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