"VAN" (Sports Desk - Tokyo2020 - 12.08.2021) :: Slovenia's Janja Garnbret had expectations lumped on her to win gold in her sport's Olympic debut. She did so with brilliant climbing. Hear from her exclusively on how it all unfolded.
In the years building to sport climbing's Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, one female name popped up more than any other as expectations grew towards the Games.
Slovenia's Janja Garnbret.
The 22-year-old climbing champion, with World Cup and World Championships titles to her name, aptly added Olympic gold to her name - the first in the history of her sport along with Spain's Alberto Gines Lopez.
Garnbret, long the favourite, let out tears of joy with fellow medallists Nonaka Miho and Noguchi Akiyo as she accomplished her Olympic dream.
She won one of three golds in Tokyo for Slovenia, a country of just two million, and she was the only Slovenian woman to do so.
"I have to admit, the pressure I felt, it was like nothing else," Garnbret said in an Instagram live with the Olympics and pro adventure climber Alex Honnold.
"And I said to myself that I didn't train for nothing just to throw it all away like this. I had to do what I had to do. Being super focused and being in my world having fun - and just trying to do my best."
Garnbret's best has been the best in the world for much of the past five years, as she's collected six World Championships golds and rose to her status as "the one to beat" ahead of Tokyo 2020.
But years of climbing behind her, nothing was a given in Tokyo, in particular because the combined format - with speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing - included the speed discipline, which is not a strong suit for a climber like Garnbret, who focusses on bouldering and lead.
Instead of allowing her weakness to turn into a nemesis, she focused on doing her best there and then moving on. Something much easier said than done.
"I don't really know how I handled the expectations from others for myself," she explained. "And I'm proud of myself for doing that because this was the hardest competition in my life. But I kind of kept telling myself that the pressure is just an illusion that I have to just enjoy, because if I enjoy it, then I also know that I will do my best."
TOKYO2020
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