Janja Garnbret makes great comeback after injury
Prague, 5 June - Slovenia's Janja Garnbret, the Olympic, World and European champion, finished second in the bouldering event at the World Cup sport climbing competition in Prague on Sunday in what is a successful return after a toe injury.
Vrhnika
Sport climber Janja Garnbret.
Photo: BoĊĦtjan Podlogar/STA
File photo
Garnbret showed great form in the event's qualifiers and semi-finals. She was the only one to qualify for the final with a perfect score of nine boulders after two rounds of competition.
In the end, she came up just short of clinching what would be her 38th World Cup win.
"As a perfectionist and a person who always aims to win I'm of course not satisfied with the second place," she said after the event, but then conceded that a podium finish was not a bad outcome after months-long rehabilitation.
"It feels great to be back in the World Cup, I'm basically where I belong," the 24-year-old said, highly motivated for the next competitions. She is also pretty sure that her injury has healed completely. The Slovenian injured her left toe in February.
First place went to France's Oriane Bertone and third place to her compatriot Flavy Cohaut.
Two other Slovenians competed in yesterday's semi-finals: Julija Kruder placed tenth and Katja Debevec eleventh in what were their best World Cup finishes this year.