Slovenia's Janja Garnbret sets record with 50th World Cup gold medal

Slovenia's Janja Garnbret continues to push back the frontiers of professional climbing.

The two-time Olympic champion's latest achievement is securing the 50th gold medal of her career at World Cup or World Climbing Series level in what is a new record across men's and women's circuits, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The 27-year-old took gold in the lead event in Innsbruck on 21 June in what was her first win this year in the World Climbing Series, formerly known as the World Cup.

She placed first in the qualification round and the semi-final, and scored 44 in the final, finishing ahead of American Annie Sanders with 38+ and South Korea's Seo Chae-hyun with 36+.

This was Garnbret's third attempt this year to secure the 50th win after she narrowly missed the milestone at two events in China in May.

"The fiftieth win is something special. I'll admit it was in the back of my mind for some time but I had to work for it after it didn't work out for me in China," she told Slovenian reporters.

The achievement came a decade after Garnbret won her first gold medal at this competition circuit. In the span of just ten years she has bagged 32 gold medals in the lead category and 18 in boulder.

"I'm very happy I still enjoy the events and that I'm still that motivated Janja, the old Janja; it's like I'm competing for the first time."

The Slovenian also has ten Climbing World Championship titles to her name, and is the reigning world champion across boulder and lead. On top of that she is the reigning Olympic champion in the women's combined event, and recently became the first woman to climb Bibliographie, a legendary sport climbing route in France considered one of the hardest rock climbs in the world.

It seems that the Bibliographie feat, which was the result of a five-year effort, gave her the necessary push to take home the 50th gold medal.

Garnbret has so far secured ten overall wins in the World Cup, which has now been rebranded as the World Climbing Series, but this year her main focus was on Bibliographie, and she has also been prioritising training for the pre-Olympic season and the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Photo: Instagram/janja_garnbret