Janja Garnbret: The Legend Re-defining Modern Competitive Climbing

Two Olympic Golds, Ten World Championship Titles, and a Unique “Enjoyment-First” Philosophy

Slovenian climbing star Janja Garnbret stands as the most dominant all-round athlete in modern sport climbing history. She excels equally in lead and bouldering. Her unmatched resume includes two Olympic combined gold medals, ten World Championship gold medals and 47 World Cup titles. Unlike most top climbers, she follows a one-of-a-kind training rule: 95% of her practice takes place on climbing walls, with no fingerboard or extra gym workouts. Her core belief—enjoyment equals victory—creates a totally new path for elite competitive climbing.

Historic Competition Achievements: Two Olympic Golds & 10 World Championship Medals

Janja wrote new climbing history with a string of record-breaking wins. She claimed the women’s combined gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and defended the title at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making her the first athlete in history to win two Olympic sport climbing golds. In the 2025 Seoul World Championships, she achieved an incredible double gold in both lead and bouldering events, lifting her total number of World Championship gold medals to ten. Up to now, she remains the only climber to sweep both lead and bouldering titles at a single World Championship.

In the 2025 Seoul World Championship lead final, she slipped halfway up the challenging route but quickly adjusted and recovered, eventually becoming the only athlete to reach the top. On the following day, she was the sole competitor who successfully completed the fourth high-difficulty bouldering problem, securing her historic double championship.

“Winning my 10th Worlds gold, and taking both disciplines at once, felt impossible—but I made it,” she told Climbing Magazine in October 2025.

The Paris Olympics brought her one of her toughest career tests. During the bouldering final, her finger got stuck under a tight hold, and she feared a potential fracture, breaking down in tears after the round. After team doctors confirmed no serious injury or ligament damage, she encouraged herself to persist. “Even with one bad finger, I have to finish the lead route. The Olympics only come once every four years,” she recalled.

She delivered an outstanding performance in the lead discipline and claimed her second Olympic gold. The first athlete to come forward and congratulate her was Brooke Raboutou, the silver medalist. The two had long hoped to stand on the Olympic podium together, and Janja regards this warm moment as one of her most precious Olympic memories.

As a long-time dominant champion, she faces growing public expectations every year. “People expect me to win all the time, and this pressure gets heavier each year,” she admitted in her 2025 interview. Her glorious competitive record includes 2 Olympic golds, 10 World Championship golds and 47 World Cup gold medals.

Mental Power: Enjoyment as Her Core Winning Rule

Janja’s lifelong competitive mantra is simple but powerful: “If I do not enjoy climbing, I cannot win. That is all there is to it.” She has also made it clear that she will retire from professional climbing the moment she no longer finds joy in the sport.

Her mental state underwent tremendous changes between the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. Before Tokyo 2021, heavy pressure accumulated for three months, becoming a huge mental burden. In contrast, with one Olympic gold already in hand and years of growth, she stayed calm and confident during the 2024 Paris Games. “I never doubted myself once in Paris, not even for a second. I trusted myself completely,” she shared with Climbing Magazine in 2024.

As a natural perfectionist, she has learned to balance dedication and calm in major competitions. Her consistent competition strategy is to climb exactly as she does in daily training, stay focused and keep calm, regardless of unexpected accidents. After her finger injury in Paris, she kept motivating herself before the lead round: “This is your chance, this is your day. Everything will be fine.” Adrenaline helped her ignore the pain and fully focus on the route.

She often shares her failed training attempts on social media to break the stereotype that top athletes never make mistakes. “People think I never fail, but 99 percent of my training attempts end in failure,” she explained. Coach Krajnik added that while her perfectionism may bring pressure, she always treats every training session with the passion of a beginner.