Slovenian Janja Garnbret's supremacy in bouldering and lead climbing is undeniable. The sport climber successfully defended her Olympic gold medal in the women's bouldering and lead combined final after five years of consistently placing within the top two athletes at every competition. (Her previous Olympic gold also included the discipline of speed climbing.)
American Brooke Raboutou trailed Garnbret by 12.5 points to claim the silver medal. Austria's Jessica Pilz took bronze after an impressive lead climb.
Garnbret and Raboutou are close friends. They led the field during the bouldering portion of the final with 84.4 and 84 points, respectively. The climbers were the only two athletes to top the first three boulder problems. They also each struggled on the final boulder, scoring 9.6 points.
Ultimately, Garnbret pulled ahead by 0.4 points by flashing Boulders 1 and 3, whereas Raboutou topped each boulder after several attempts. The two had an incredible advantage of over 24 points — nearly the entire amount of points available for each boulder — over Australian Oceana Mackenzie, the next closest competitor, heading into the lead round.
Japanese lead specialist Ai Mori scored the most points in the lead climb after nearly topping the route. Her 96.1 lead points helped make a comeback from her low boulder score of 39 points for a total score of 135.1 points. She jumped from seventh place into third.
Then it was Raboutou's turn. After slipping in the lead route at the Tokyo Games three years ago, Raboutou climbed the Paris route with determination. She flowed up the wall with no hesitation, positioning her feet precisely and securely setting up moves. She easily maneuvered through holds that gave fellow competitors difficulty to swoop into first place.
Pilz, another lead specialist, went next. She needed the climb of her life to earn the maximum lead score of 100 points to boost herself into lead. Although she had a strong climb and smoothly navigated tricky overhangs, she slipped and finished with 88.1 lead points. Combined with her boulder score of 59.3 points, Pilz knocked Mori from the bronze medal position with a total of 147.4 points.
"I'm overjoyed that it worked out like that," Pilz said. "I have to say, behind the wall [I felt pressure], clearly. But once I was on the wall, I just realised that this was my thing."
Garnbret was the last climber to ascend the route. As the leader of the bouldering section, she needed 71.6 lead points to bump into the first place position.
That was a breeze for her. Even after sustaining a finger injury on Boulder 4, Garnbret moved up the wall with ease.
"I was really scared because my finger got stuck in between two holes [of a hold] and I couldn't get it out. So I was scared that I had fractured something, and I already fractured exactly this finger 10 years ago," Garnbret said.
"I was scared I did it again, but I had so much adrenaline that I didn't even care. I said to myself, 'I don't care if I'm missing a hand or a finger, I will go out there and climb the route,'" she added.
Raboutou intently watched Garnbret before breaking into a smile and cheering Garnbret on as she passed Raboutou's lead and approached the top of the boulder. Garnbret made it midway through the highest 10 holds before slipping.
Garnbret's lead score of 84.1 points (168.5 points total) was enough to repeat her Olympic climbing gold medal. She and Raboutou ran to hug each other as soon Garnbret unknotted her harness, a testament to their strong friendship.
"This was just the dream. We have an incredible friendship, where we both want each other to do our best. That's what happened today, and it feels really good to share that with somebody," Raboutou said of her bond with Garnbret.
“To share that connection as both a friend and an idol is incredible. I look up to her so much, and I'm so grateful for the support she's given me as well," Raboutou added.
"This was our wish, that we would stand on the Olympic podium together," Garnbret said. "I'm just feeling incredibly happy and proud of myself, what I did, and I'm relieved, because it's finally over."
Women's bouldering/lead combined medalists
🥇Janja Garnbret (SLO)
🥈Brooke Raboutou (USA)
🥉Jessica Pilz (AUT)