Janja Garnbret claims historic 50th gold medal at Innsbruck Climbing World Cup 2026

The Innsbruck stage of the Climbing World Cup 2026 concluded in dramatic fashion with two thrilling Lead finals, but without a shadow of doubt the night ultimately belonged to Janja Garnbret of Slovenia, who secured the 50th gold medal of her career at World Cup or World Climbing Series level.

The 27-year-old climbed to hold 44 to add another chapter to one of the most remarkable careers in climbing history; after a devastating senior debut (second behind teammate Mina Markovic at the 2015 European Lead Championship in Chamonix aged a mere 16) Garnbret has dominated climbing competitions - both boulder and lead - like no one else before. Her first senior victory came in Chamonix in 2016 and since then, Garnbret has gone on to become the most successful climber of her generation. Her latest triumph is her 32nd gold medal in Lead - the highest number of World Cup wins in a single discipline across both genders and all disciplines - and adds to the 18 Boulder victories she has accumulated throughout her career. Astonishingly, she has secured podium finishes in 90% of the events she has entered, and, in doing so, she has displayed an unparalleled consistency at the highest of levels. She has collected 10 Climbing World Championship titles across Boulder and Lead, and she is also the first climber to achieve a "perfect season," winning all six Boulder World Cups in 2019. And, of course, she is the only climber to win Olympic gold in both appearances, claiming victory at Tokyo 2020 and successfully defending her title at Paris 2024.

"It feels absolutely incredible!" she commented. "I have to be honest, the 50th win was in the back of my mind for quite some time, but I was trying to play it cool, not think about it too much. Today I was feeling like it was my day, I felt super good, and Innsbruck brings the best out of me. Fifty is crazy! I'm immensley grateful for all the love and support that I get. I will set some new goals soon, I've always said that Bibliographie was the biggest goal of the season, now I got the 50th gold, I guess celebration is in order now!"

Annie Sanders of the USA claimed silver with 38+, adding another medal to an already extraordinary fortnight. After winning Lead gold medals in Wujiang and Prague, and women’s Boulder gold in Innsbruck two days earlier, Sanders once again found herself on the podium. Bronze went to Seo Chaehyun of South Korea with 36+. Seo continued her remarkable consistency by reaching the podium at all three Lead events contested in 2026: bronze in Wujiang, silver in Prague, and bronze again in Innsbruck. Erin McNeice placed 4th (35+), Rosa Rekar 5th (33), Jessica Pilz 6th (25+), Yuetong Zhang 7th (20+) and Manon Hily 8th (12+).

The men’s final produced one of the closest finishes of the season, with Suzuki Neo of Japan and Alberto Ginés López of Spain both reaching hold 42+ on the route. With the scores identical, the gold medal was decided by countback to the semi-final round, where Suzuki had reached hold 52, compared to Ginés López who had reached hold 48. The Japanese climber therefore secured victory, while the Spaniard had to settle for silver once again. The win gave Suzuki his third medal of the Lead Series 2026 after taking gold in Wujiang, China, and silver in Prague, Czechia. Home favourite Jakob Schubert of Austria completed the men’s podium with bronze after scoring 42, narrowly missing out on the countback battle for gold and silver. Putra Tri Ramadan placed 4th (40+), Adam Ondra 5th (40+), Luka Potočar 6th (38+), Sorato Anraku 7th (37+) and Giovanni Placci, in his first-ever World Cup final, 8th (32+).

Attention will turn next to Krakow when Speed takes centre stage as the four-lane wall makes its debut in the World Climbing Series with relays added to the schedule in the heart of the Polish capital city on 3-5 July 2026.