Two-time Olympic champion Janja Garnbret claimed her 50th World Cup gold with a Lead win at the World Climbing Series in Innsbruck on June 21, less than two weeks after becoming the first woman to complete Bibliographie, a 9b+ route in Céüse, France.
Red Bull athlete Janja Garnbret (Slovenia) secured a record 50th World Cup gold with a Lead win at the World Climbing Series in Innsbruck on Sunday, June 21, setting another landmark in her rise to the top of the sport climbing world.
The 27-year-old’s victory came just two weeks after she became the first woman to complete the iconic 9b+ Bibliographie ascent in France, making it two career milestones in the space of 15 days.
Widely considered the greatest competition climber of all time, Garnbret is a 10-time world champion and a two-time Olympic gold medallist, with 50 World Cups and a 9b+ to her name. Her Innsbruck victory added a 32nd gold in Lead to 18 Boulder wins, extending a career record unmatched in competition climbing.
For someone who famously said “99% of my training is falling”, Garnbret makes climbing look spectacularly easy at times. Her journey began at seven, scaling trees, cabinets and other pieces of furniture around her home in Smarna, Slovenia, before formal climbing courses, junior titles and senior dominance turned early instinct into a career of records.
The Innsbruck win followed her June 6, 2026 ascent of Bibliographie at around 2000m in Céüse, France, where she became only the second woman in history to achieve a confirmed ascent of a 9b+ sport climb. In competition, the same athlete has won every possible major title in sport climbing, including Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Key Facts
Event World: Climbing Series – Innsbruck Lead competition
Athlete: Janja Garnbret (Slovenia, 27) – Red Bull athlete
Achievement: Record 50th World Cup gold
World Cup Breakdown: 32 Lead victories, 18 Boulder wins
Date of Win: 21 June 2026
Location: Innsbruck, Austria
Previous Milestone: First woman to complete Bibliographie (9b+) in Céüse, France
Bibliographie Date: 6 June 2026
World Titles: 10 World titles
Olympic Titles: Two gold medals – Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024
Notable Context: Two milestones in 15 days: Bibliographie 9b+ and 50th World Cup gold
Route And Performance Overview
Early Climbing – Smarna, Slovenia: Garnbret started climbing at seven, scaling trees, cabinets, and furniture around her home. She revealed: “I was always at the highest branch of a tree, and it broke so many times, but I didn’t get scared.”
Junior Progression – Slovenian Youth Climbing Team: After enrolling in a climbing course, she made the Slovenian Youth Climbing Team by the end of elementary school and capped her first national season by becoming European Junior Champion.
Senior Breakthrough – 2014 to 2018: Garnbret moved from World Junior Champion in 2014 to World Senior Champion in Lead at the 2016 World Championships, then added Bouldering and Combined golds in 2018.
Unbeaten Boulder Season – 2019: Six World Cup Bouldering wins in a row delivered a record-breaking unbeaten season, alongside three 2019 World titles in Bouldering, Combined and Lead.
Olympic Stage – Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024: Garnbret won Combined gold at the delayed Tokyo Games in August 2021, then followed with another Olympic gold at Paris 2024, despite a finger injury worry after the Boulder half of the final.
Outdoor Progression – 2017 to 2026: Garnbret climbed her first 9a (5.14d) graded sport route at Seleccio Natural in Spain in 2017, completed the world’s first-ever female onsight of a consensus 8c in 2021 at Oliana, and completed Bibliographie (9b+) in Céüse, France, on June 6, 2026.
50th World Cup Gold – Innsbruck, 2026: Garnbret returned quickly to competition climbing and won Lead at the World Climbing Series in Innsbruck, earning her 50th World Cup gold and 32nd Lead victory ahead of South Korean veteran star Kim Ja In.
Athlete Quotes
Janja Garnbret, Slovenian sport climber and two-time Olympic champion: “I remember when we were kids, the others were just playing ball or other games. I didn’t want to get off the wall. I’d be on it for an hour and a half at a time, moving left to right, right to left, up, down. Even back then, I knew this was what I wanted to do.”
“My whole life has revolved around climbing. School was always second.”
“This is the first time that climbing is in the Olympics, and it’s the first gold medal, so this means a lot to me. And I know how much I put in.”
“I was at the peak of my training. I really didn’t know what to do – keep training? It was hard for me to process.”
“I’m a very impatient person. I want everything now, probably because I’m a perfectionist and a high achiever, but this experience taught me that patience really is the most important thing. You can train hard, you can do everything right, but it’s still not guaranteed that you will succeed.”
“I honestly thought it would just be a warm-up. But my head was super calm. I was honestly just vibing on the wall. Usually, in the past, if I couldn’t do a route in two to three tries, I would walk away and never come back. But this route required me to be a different climber. To commit, to be patient – the challenge was mostly mental.”
“I feel incredible. Fifty victories are a milestone that, at the beginning of my career, I could only dream of achieving. It’s a relief as winning has become the standard and the pressure that comes with it is, of course, felt, although it is something I mostly put on myself.”
“For me, it’s always been progress. It’s addictive because sometimes in training, a hold feels very bad, but then two months later, this hold feels very good. You see that training is working, and you get stronger and stronger. Even if there are 10,000 people watching, you don’t hear anything. It’s just you and the wall, and it’s about trying to solve everything in front of you.”
“It’s never been about breaking records; it was just my will, that competition feeling and adrenaline; that moment where someone says, ‘you’re next, have a go’.”
Why It Matters
Garnbret’s 50th World Cup victory marks a new reference point in competition climbing. The milestone strengthens her standing as the most decorated competition climber in history – female or male – while her Bibliographie ascent shows that her legacy extends beyond indoor competition into the upper limits of outdoor sport climbing.
Her career also charts the rapid growth of climbing itself, from junior circuits and World Cup dominance to Olympic gold medals and landmark outdoor ascents. With a home World Cup event in Koper coming this September and a potential third Olympic gold on the horizon at Los Angeles 2028, Garnbret still has targets ahead.
About The Athlete
Janja Garnbret is a Red Bull athlete from Slovenia, born on 12 March 1999 in Šmartno pri Slovenj Gradcu. Widely considered the greatest competition climber of all time, she competes across Boulder, Lead, Speed, and Combined disciplines and began her career in 2013.
Garnbret is a 10-time world champion, two-time Olympic gold medallist and winner of 50 World Cups. Her career includes a record-breaking unbeaten Bouldering World Cup season in 2019, Olympic gold medals at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, and the first female ascent of Bibliographie (9b+) in Céüse, France.
