Sports Bulletin Report
Munich (Germany):-A sell-out crowd was in attendance at the Königsplatz in Munich, Germany to see Austria's Nicolai Uznik take men's Boulder gold and Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret claim yet another title, one that had been missing from her very impressive collection.
A European title had eluded Garnbret so far in her climbing career, but she was determined to change all that right from the start of the European Championships Munich 2022. The Olympic champion led the women's Lead qualification, led the semifinals, and took gold with a 50+ from a 51-hold final climb.
“It feels amazing to tick the remaining box,” said Garnbret:“The European Championships is probably one of the hardest to win because you are expected to win it. If you can win World Cups, then people think that you should also win the European Championships. That's how it is.
“It was definitely one of the hardest mentally to win. That's why I'm even happier with my performance and my mentality throughout all competition.”
Looking on as Garnbret climbed to gold was Austria’s Jessica Pilz who had set the target of 45+ for her rival. Pilz knew sitting top with just Garnbret to come that she would have an upgraded European medal from the two bronze’s she had previously won. She just didn’t know what colour it would be. Unfortunately for the Austrian it wasn’t the top step this time as she had to settle for silver.
Pilz said: “It was super fun to climb like that and the crowd was amazing. The route was also pretty nice to climb. It was a super long route, but it was fun.
“I think I had the wrong boulder in the end because I tried it fast, and it was better to go slow but I’m still happy about second place. It was a great performance.”
Manon Hily of France had been climbing well and was near the top of the qualification standings and semifinals. As Hily reached 41 to move to 42 she came off the wall and looked visibly disappointed. Her 41+ was enough for a bronze medal though above fourth placed Mia Krampl of Slovenia.
“I was very excited, and I felt in good shape, so all was good for me today. The route was not so tricky. It was a very good climb,” said Hily.
In fifth position was Aleksandra Totkova of Bulgaria who matched Krampl’s 40+ just ahead of Eliska Adamovska of the Czech Republic who finished sixth.
The home crowd favourite, Germany’s Hannah Meul was seventh overall reaching 37 as Ukrainian Ievgeniia Kazbekova rounded out the final standings in eighth with 18+.
The evening session of the European Championships Munich 2022 saw the men’s Boulder competition take centre stage, following the women’s Lead competition, with Austria’s Nicolai Uznik crowned champion.
The packed out Königsplatz was treated to a tense finale to the day’s competition as the three top semifinal qualifiers battled it out for medals. Uznik, Adam Ondra of the Czech Republic and France’s Sam Avezou all came into the final performing well and were ahead going on to the final Boulder.
All three had two tops and two zones but it was Uznik who rose above his rivals with fewer attempts in his performance.
“That's one of the coolest competitions I've ever competed in,” said Uznik. “Especially with such a big and awesome crowd, you just want to deliver a show. That's what I tried to do because after the first boulder I felt I couldn't really climb anymore. So, I was thinking okay let's enjoy this and at least put on a good show. Try to give all I have and it turned out to be pretty good.”
Taking the silver medal was Avezou who has tasted European success multiple times at Youth Cup and Youth Championship level, although the Frenchman couldn’t quite fully believe it: “I’m very happy, but I can’t process it right now. I did my best and that was all I could do.”
Ondra had a chance to snatch a gold or silver medal as the very final competitor, but like all the finalists struggled to solve the problem.
“Let's say I wasn't born to do it,” said Ondra. “I was pretty happy how relatively close I got but nevertheless, I was still quite far away.”
The Olympian took a hiatus following Tokyo 2020 and returned with a gold at the IFSC World Cup in Chamonix last month, he now has a European bronze to add to his comeback:
“It feels great [to win bronze]. I didn't have any particular goals for Boulder, I was really happy with proceeding to the final. In the final I could enjoy my time and know that it's a bronze medal,” said Ondra.
Despite being the only climber to reach the zone for the fourth problem, France’s Mejdi Schalck finished outside the podium in fourth position.
A flash on the third Boulder also couldn’t help Filip Schenk of Italy make an impact in the final and he finished fifth overall. Former European champion Jernej Kruder of Slovenia was the only climber not to top which meant a sixth-place finish.
