Olympics: Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret wins inaugural women’s climbing gold

Slovenian spiderwoman Janja Garnbret gave a climbing masterclass on Friday, scaling new heights to win the inaugural women’s Olympic gold medal.

Garnbret blew away the competition in the bouldering section of the eight-woman final, solving two out of three “problems” while her rivals failed to fully overcome any. (Full Tokyo 2020 Coverage)

The 22-year-old followed that up by climbing highest in the lead section, giving her the title on 5.00 points despite finishing fifth in the opening speed round.

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Japan’s Miho Nonaka claimed silver on 45.00 points, while her compatriot Akiyo Noguchi — competing in her last event before retiring — took bronze on 64.00.

In the Olympic format, the winner is decided by multiplying each climber’s finishing position in the three disciplines of speed, lead and bouldering.

The climber with the lowest score is the winner.

Garnbret is a six-time world champion and came into the event as the hot favourite.

Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw set a new speed record in the final with a time of 6.84sec.

Spain’s Alberto Gines Lopez won the men’s gold medal on Thursday.