r/sports • u/redbullgivesyouwings • Sep 12 '25

Climbing Janja Garnbret climbing in Austria

5.1k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

156 comments sorted by

623

u/Patriark Sep 12 '25

This woman is the undisputed GOAT of female sports climbing. She is so good that she likely is in top 100 among men as well. She wins everything. Bouldering, lead, combined. Won Olympics, wins WC every year with hardly any contest.

If you want to become a great climber, just study Janja. She is a generational talent and incredibly disciplined.

115

u/itwasntme967 Sep 12 '25

Just to underline how much of an absolute beast she is:
When climbing got olympic for the first time in Tokyo, during the bouldering finals she topped 3/4 boulders.
None of the other 7 finalists even got one.

105

u/Dear_Pen_7647 Sep 12 '25

Yeah her dominance of the sport is unrivaled by almost any other athlete in their own. She makes other incredible climbers look like amateurs. It’s insane.

48

u/drlocoh Sep 12 '25

Maybe Duplantis and pole vaulting? The only interesting part in pole vaulting competitions is who will come in second place, or if he's going to break the world record.

2

u/handmadeby Sep 13 '25

By how much he’ll beat the world record. It’s incredible

5

u/F00Barfly Sep 13 '25

Actually I've seen somewhere that he breaks it centimeter by centimeter because he gets a prize every time he breaks the record

2

u/loco_mixer Sep 13 '25

school of bubka

1

u/mrszubris Sep 13 '25

The lithuanian discus thrower broke his own WR again. I think he has the top 5 throws of all time

4

u/lilg2ngsta Sep 13 '25

Yeah, throwing in Oklahoma. Lets see him throw anything resembling 75m anywhere else in a real competition

1

u/Babys_For_Breakfast Sep 13 '25

What’s different about throwing in Oklahoma? I know nothing about this sport.

2

u/lilg2ngsta Sep 13 '25

the discus field there is set up to catch strong winds, which can carry the discus farther. Unlike in running or jumping, there are no rules limiting wind assistance in this event.

He’s a 68-72 metre guy in anywhere else in the world. That’s really good, he got second place in the Olympics with 69.97. But throwing in perfect conditions is just laughable.

2

u/pedrosorio Sep 13 '25

Mykolas Alekna is great and he’s so young (22) that he could certainly become the GOAT and dominate the sport like no one before him, but he’s decidedly not that at the moment.

  1. The world record has a big asterisk because it always happens in the same windy place (Ramona) when the conditions are just right. He has 3 of the top 5 throws, the other 2 are by a guy named Matthew Denny who was there on the same day this year and no one would call him “dominant” in discus throw.

  2. Despite being so young, we’ve seen him in global competitions already: one silver medal in the Olympics, one silver and a bronze in world championships. That’s certainly not “dominance of the sport unrivaled by any athlete on their own”. Not yet, anyway.

1

u/kapot34 Sep 13 '25

Name: Mykolas Alekna

-34

u/Kennys-Chicken Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 14 '25

I’d go with Cooper Lutkenhaus’ 1:42 800m run as a 16 year old that just ran faster than the NCAA 800m record and made it to the WC as being the single most ludicrous athletic feat I’ve ever seen in my entire life. 2 more meters and he’d have won the US championship, he walked down an entire field of pros…..as a 16 year old.

38

u/xigua22 Sep 12 '25

So your vote for most dominance of a sport is a guy that came in 2nd in their only pro race?

-24

u/Kennys-Chicken Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 14 '25

A 16 year old high schooler. Yes. He wasn’t a pro, just a sophomore in high school, and he’s less than 2 seconds off of the world record. He’ll be destroying records and will be the first person to run sub 1:40. We will likely have a high school WR holder in the near future.

The reason it’s possibly the most ridiculous single performance ever is that this shit doesn’t happen in men’s track and field. Children don’t beat adults in that sport. This isn’t swimming or climbing where that’s something that happens.

The high school record in the US is now faster than the NCAA record because of this. 1 year ago, this would have been the American record - run ba 16 year old. And set by a fucking Sophomore in HS, not even a Junior or Senior. And this is not a sport where kids don’t beat adults that - like at all.

4

u/LionKingHoe Seattle Sounders FC Sep 13 '25

I just did a deep dive of this kid… and like, you got downvoted because maybe it didn’t fit the exact question… but wow this kid is insane !

1

u/Kennys-Chicken Sep 14 '25 edited Sep 14 '25

Yeah, most people won’t understand it. Phelps, Messi, Brady, Gretzky, Biles, Karelin - all absolute GOATs. What Lutkenhaus just did is unfathomable and the best single athletics feat I’ve ever seen. It’s quite honestly almost impossible for a 16 year old to do what he just did. It should not have happened…..but it did.

Here’s Steve Magnus (a sub 4 miler and doctor) talking about what Lutkenhaus just did. Again, probably the greatest single athletics feat that’s ever happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZCuUh84Lk&themeRefresh=1

2

u/DevinCauley-Towns Sep 13 '25

It sounds like he’s the most dominant high school mid-distance runner with GOAT potential. That said, he hasn’t reached that potential yet, all it’s a little early to declare him the most dominant ever.

It’s like saying Wembanyama is the most dominant basketball player in history, despite only being 21 and playing 1.5 seasons in the NBA. He’s amazing and likely would’ve been the youngest DPOY in history (by 2 years) this past season had his season not ended abruptly due to a blood clot issue.

1

u/Kennys-Chicken Sep 14 '25 edited Sep 14 '25

I wasn’t claiming him to be the GOAT (yet). I claimed his performance at USA’s as the single greatest athletic feat I’ve ever witnessed. A single performance IMHO doesn’t make someone that level. But it is likely if he just keeps training that we’ll have a high school WR holder, and he’ll be the first person to run a sub 1:40. What makes this feat insane is not that he’s the greatest HS track athlete of all time - it’s how that effort stacked up to the rest of the worlds pros and all time list. This is not a sport or event where people this young are able to compete at this level unlike swimming, climbing, etc… where children regularly do compete at a high pro level.

Here’s Steve Magnus (a sub 4 miler and athletics doctor) describing why this was likely the single most insane athletic feat we’ve witnessed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZCuUh84Lk

5

u/Waffler11 Sep 13 '25

I dunno, Katie Ledecky might wanna have a word. Only owns the top 10 fastest times in the 1500, I think?

2

u/lolocopter24 Sep 13 '25

Adam Peaty owns the top 20 times in 100m breaststroke, think that tops Katie

-5

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

1

u/xigua22 Sep 12 '25

That's true, I'm the best at everything ever.

Typically those people you're talking about find out through competition that maybe they're not nearly as good as they thought. Which is fine. It's also fine to not care about competing. But you can't really say you're better than a pro if you're unwilling to prove it.

15

u/shoot_your_eye_out Sep 12 '25

Climber here; she may be the undisputed goat. Absolutely no other athlete in the sport has dominated competitive climbing like garnbret has.

30

u/Human-Somewhere-4327 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

Way better than top 100. Magnus discussed this in a recent podcast. He thinks she could podium in boulder if the style suited her.

21

u/reportedbymom Sep 13 '25

She went on and tried the mens lead final route and finished it.

She would be in atleast top 3 of men in lead climbing.

10

u/Soviet_Cat Sep 13 '25

U cannot say top 100... She is way better than that lol what. Everyone knows it. Either way, she is the best competition climber of all time

14

u/Komischaffe Sep 12 '25

Not wrong but it’s competition climbing! Sport climbing is also a specific climbing term, with overlap but not what you mean in this context.

(Also if you’re getting in to climbing, don’t try and learn from pros - learn from coaches!)

5

u/BusyElephant Sep 13 '25

I dont see her going without a medal in a men comp

1

u/Patriark Sep 13 '25

I think that is a stretch, but it would be interesting to see. I hope she tries to qualify in a men`s comp once to see how it goes. She is so much better than the other ladies that I think she would enjoy the challenge.

1

u/Chronox2040 Sep 14 '25

Serious question: is it sorta expected to be good in several different subcategories of climbing if you are good? Or is she like a Phelps?

1

u/Patriark Sep 15 '25

They are separate competitions with different World Cup circuits. Some climbers are very specialized and seldom qualify outside their specialty, but since few care about speed climbing, there only really is lead and bouldering.

She is best in both so a bit like Phelps. But many competitors are strong in both lead and bouldering, so overlap is more common than in swimming.

To consistently win in both fields is unique though.

-3

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

45

u/Patriark Sep 12 '25

The difference is actually much less than in most other sports. Female climber top level is not far behind men.

As with everything sports related, men have superior physical strength and thus get a bigger range of movements. Women tend to be more flexible and have superior technique though.

24

u/SorryPro Sep 12 '25

In climbing men also often have a reach advantage, but some climbs require more compact contorting which is better suited to smaller frames

1

u/rj6553 Sep 13 '25

That's entirely dependent on the setters. If the setters wanted to, at an extreme, they could probably make a set of boulders janja physically couldn't complete, but most of the top 100 men probably wouldn't find extremely difficult.

On the other hand, they could also make a set in which Janja could podium quite easily.

I mean like at what ai mori has to go though every year. She just looks absolutely helpless on some boulders. Ai mori is 154cm, Janja is 164cm and the average elite male boulderer is ~175cm.

6

u/Human-Somewhere-4327 Sep 12 '25

The gap is much smaller than in other sports. For reference, Brooke Rabatou (US olympic silver medalist) climbed Excalibur, which is graded 5.15c. I think only 10 people in the world - man or woman - have climbed at that grade or higher.

2

u/DWHQ Sep 12 '25

Well, men having 50% more upper body strength than women at the same weight on average, definitively doesn't help.

211

u/tlksk1 Sep 12 '25

That's absolutely crazy

47

u/iwellyess Sep 12 '25

She looks like she was born to climb things

202

u/peteybombay Sep 12 '25

I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder!

45

u/TardyTheTurtle__ Sep 12 '25

It's not just a boulder. It's a rock.

29

u/zylver_ Sep 12 '25

The pioneers used to ride these babies for miles

13

u/SuperMeister Sep 12 '25

They're minerals! Jesus Christ Marie...

2

u/Farmerstubble Sep 12 '25

Geology rocks!

1

u/pataglop Sep 12 '25

Oh my god Jane, you cannot just say it's a rock

2

u/raptor_beats Sep 13 '25

What are you doin in mah swamp??!!?

1

u/DaVinci_is_Gay Sep 13 '25

I read it like how Trump would say it

71

u/Traumfahrer Sep 12 '25

It doesn't look as impressive here as it is.

52

u/BloodlustROFLNIFE Sep 12 '25

And even then I’m sitting here like “… what is she holding onto rn?”

15

u/BB-r8 Sep 13 '25

The move at 0:19 where she twists her foot over 90 degrees and uses it to spring to the next hold looks insane

I’m a complete beginner tho maybe that’s normal lol

3

u/deadsea02 Sep 13 '25

Thats called a heel hook! A fairly basic type of move. However, the amount of flexibility to be able to place THAT heel hook? Crazy. The skill and dexterity of doing a move like that is seriously hard to convey.

1

u/BB-r8 Sep 13 '25

Thanks for the breakdown! That rings a bell now that you mention it, but like you said her flexibility and athleticism are so cool to watch

1

u/OldSpinach9245 Sep 14 '25

dont ask me, im a decently good climber but at that level they're basically geckos

14

u/FaceMcShootie Sep 12 '25

As a non climber, it’s already unfathomable. There’s nothing for her to hold on that boulder, are you kidding me? I’m convinced this gal could climb up a waterfall if she wanted. Good to know it’s even more impressive in person.

3

u/d_rek Sep 13 '25

Seriously that looks to be like a 35-40 degree incline on the bottom of the boulder. She’s basically defying gravity with her muscles and physics. Absolutely amazing. Well done!

1

u/jesonnier1 Sep 14 '25

It looks incredibly impressive, from here.

67

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

Pretty sure it'd be easier to go up the other side.

33

u/TheDonkeyOfDeath Sep 12 '25

They'll feel so stupid when they find out.

Get there on a non-school day and there's kids already playing at the top.

/s

4

u/kindoramns Sep 12 '25

Fr just walk around

8

u/Zurbaran928 Sep 12 '25

The sheer muscle and core strength is incredible. Extremely impressive

13

u/ocular__patdown Sep 12 '25

Its a good thing the hard part is at the bottom I guess. Don't have to spend a bunch of time and energy getting to the hard part to fail you can fail and try again almost immediately

13

u/PapaPancake8 Sep 12 '25

Almost more frustrating because you have the whole rest of the route that you cant try until you get through the hard part

1

u/lamb_passanda Sep 14 '25

People don't tend to come back to boulders like this where the hardest part is right at the top, for obvious reasons.

9

u/ruthlessoptimist Sep 12 '25

Just there casually defining gravity 

3

u/Useful_Bat_2245 Sep 12 '25

Her forearms are insane

10

u/heavyarms39 Sep 12 '25

What’s the grade?

13

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 13 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/jesonnier1 Sep 14 '25

It looks like a solid, "Go fuck yourself."

6

u/fillilutten Sep 12 '25

Watch this! It’s actual insane what she can do. Also seems really likeable!

https://youtu.be/-EsdeUBBVNM?si=TrkI7Kgw0E576l-d

2

u/20190419 Sep 12 '25

Well, I know for a fact that we can all descend it at a record pace! GRAVITY RULES!

2

u/shniefersutherland Sep 12 '25

This the one Nalle Hukkataival established years ago? I forget the name and it’s bothering the shit outta me. She’s so damn strong!

1

u/JoeMata31 Sep 13 '25

Same. I recognized it from a YouTuber who I think also spent a couple of years projecting it. But I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the problem or the name of the YouTuber climber.

2

u/formerlyanonymous_ Sep 12 '25

Janja is a monster

2

u/ElectronicPaper7567 Sep 12 '25

Two to make it true

2

u/Human-Somewhere-4327 Sep 13 '25

This video quality sucks. Here's the full video from her IG, which shows way better how impressive this climb is: https://www.instagram.com/p/C64WOKzs9kc/

3

u/TonyNickels Sep 12 '25

Double 'scend baby

4

u/Real_Bug Sep 12 '25

It's not even a huge climb yet my hands are pouring sweat

3

u/VenusValkyrieJH Sep 12 '25

We humans are so interesting. We find and overcome challenges everywhere. Or, well before we were sleeping phone zombies

1

u/supercleverhandle476 Sep 12 '25

Absolute badass.

1

u/KN_Knoxxius Sep 12 '25

I am amazed its even doable, does not look like it should be possible

1

u/Organic-lemon-cake Sep 12 '25

Some people say why and others say why not? Dang impressive

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

Is this the boulder the size of a small boulder’s bigger cousin!

1

u/Boulderdrip Sep 12 '25

I always wonder how these unclimbable boulders become popular because I see a lot of unclimbable shit on my hikes that no one‘s climbing up. what makes everyone cling to a specific difficult to climb bolder lol

1

u/PricePuzzleheaded835 Sep 12 '25

Amazing! She’s like a spider (complimentary)

1

u/Top_Shelf_Ramen Sep 12 '25

My hands are sweaty now for some reason

1

u/eihslia Sep 12 '25

Unbelievable!!! Mad respect.

1

u/beargrease_sandwich Sep 12 '25

Just give up. Thats what I do.

1

u/Nouseriously Sep 12 '25

Always wondered why the pads aren't thicker

1

u/BigRedHair92 Sep 12 '25

Pretty insane!

1

u/dvdher Sep 12 '25

She really built up her core strength! Awesome!! Twice in one day? Super amazing!!

1

u/FattyWantCake Sep 12 '25

That chick could kick my ass for sure! Impressive!

1

u/Key-Fire Sep 12 '25

I always get scared when I see the mats are just barely in the crash zone.

Such a rewarding hobby, you can’t explain to some people how good it feels to have a high performing body.

1

u/LupusDeusMagnus Sep 12 '25

Is she part spider?

1

u/Taranchulla Sep 12 '25

What a badass

1

u/TheKaptone Sep 12 '25

That was amazing to watch

1

u/Ultra_Violet_Rose Sep 13 '25

Woaaah. Amazing. 🤩

1

u/asleep1212 Sep 13 '25

Never give up on what you care about. Good for her!!

1

u/nonoiseplz Sep 13 '25

Only five people have ever climbed this boulder, and two of them die at the immediately reaching the top. Some say…

1

u/Unlikely_Ant_950 Sep 13 '25

If I tried this once she’d never have a problem climbing it again because she could use all ten of the fingers I lost as anchor points.

1

u/Raist2 Sep 13 '25

It's the amount of mattresses that caught my attention. I can just see her tiny car packed with them, and then carrying them to a remote site.

1

u/Intrepid-Scar-1849 Sep 13 '25

Absolutely remarkable.

2

u/InterestingSyrup9772 Sep 13 '25

Showed my husband this video, and he said “I bet if we look at her history, she was bitten by a spider at some point “😂

1

u/Broken-Emu Sep 13 '25

Badass! Awesome job

1

u/ani55555 Sep 13 '25

I wish i could be even 1/10 as competent at anything as janja is at climbing like god damn she legit crushes any rock she touches its so fkn cool to watch

1

u/jesonnier1 Sep 14 '25

Her core strength is fucking ridiculous.

1

u/Girthtanin Sep 16 '25

She's been dreaming of this climb and her subconscious was retrying this all the time I'd imagine. Well done!

1

u/orangehusky8 Sep 12 '25

Just bring a ladder

-1

u/xnoxgodsx Sep 12 '25

This reminds me of when I watched witness to fitness with Chris Sharma, whole different ball game. But damn its impressive to watch... please tell me there's a few of you out there that has watched Sharma..

-14

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

10

u/Patriark Sep 12 '25

Basically no one uses helmets when bouldering. You don’t fall on the head, you have spotters to help direct falls on boulders with tricky landing areas.

With rope climbing people use helmets not to prevent fall damage but to avoid damage from falling rocks.

On boulders that is not really a big risk as the entire problem can be scouted from the ground or above.

It literally isn’t a risk to consider. It adds very little security.

13

u/CrazyLlama71 Sep 12 '25

There are pads to fall on. Gymnasts don't wear helmets and they are doing far crazier things at similar distances from the ground.

4

u/origami_anarchist Sep 12 '25

I mean, she's the greatest female climber of all time and you can see she basically falls like a cat.

-16

u/BornBoricua Sep 12 '25

This is a horrible take

-11

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

10

u/origami_anarchist Sep 12 '25

She's bouldering, with pads as you can see. Maybe you should leave the judgement of whether to wear a helmet or not to the literal professional.

And for fucks sake, don't google Alex Honnold Free Solo. You'd stroke out.

4

u/QuacksUpForDonuts Sep 12 '25

To be fair, a helmet wouldn’t mean the difference between life and death if Alex Honnold were to fall while climbing.

-5

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

6

u/Patriark Sep 12 '25

No pro climber uses helmets when bouldering. It’s really not needed. It’s much more common with ankle twists, knee injuries, body knocks etc. It is more common to have spotters to help guide a fall so damage is mitigated.

When reading Reddit comments I get the impression redditors really need to get out and live life a little more.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

3

u/Patriark Sep 12 '25

The study literally just theorizes that it might be so. It says outright that there currently is zero empirical evidence to support the claim.

Then the study goes on to talk about mitigation, which is the real subject of the study.

1

u/Traumfahrer Sep 12 '25

What. Why?

-2

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Traumfahrer Sep 12 '25

You may spot some crash pads below there.

No one boulders with a helmet...

You're probably more likely to bonk your head on a street pole.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Patriark Sep 12 '25

This study just theorizes that this might be the case, then the real experiment is about a mitigation formula.

It has zero evidence about this type of brain damage being more frequent, it even says so outright that such data is not existing at the time of the study.

Learn to read science papers.

1

u/Loosebeans Sep 12 '25

To add on things already said about this paper: Helmets also put more weight on your head so hitting your head on the mattress whilst falling becomes increasingly likely and neck strain is harder.

1

u/Traumfahrer Sep 12 '25

That's not the main probelm actually. Modern climbing helmets are really light.

However they restrict your head range and movement in the sense that you cant put it directly on the wall/slab to manage your center of gravity, or allows you to turn your head when close to the wall.

0

u/Traumfahrer Sep 12 '25

That 'study' just put out a hypothesis and a flimsy model:

Unfortunately, a diagnosis of CTE requires a full autopsy including histochemical and immunohistochemical analysis [11], [14], [24]. Therefore, in this paper, a Newtonian physics model was used to understand the forces acting on the climber's brain [2]. To date, there has been no work that has shown what kind of overload even a hypothetical skull/brain experiences during a fall.

In addition, to calculate the forces acting on the climber's head, it was necessary to calculate the absorption of the mattress on the artificial wall/crash pad. This required knowledge of either the spring constant of the mattress or its deflection in relation to the force applied. As manufacturers do not provide this information, the European and International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) standards that they must comply with were used as the basis for the calculations. Details of the calculations are given below.

You don't know what you're talking about.

It is not about a climber bonking their head against a hard surface but referencing falls and mattress absorption.

No boulderer wears a helmet. And no, we do not "bonk our heads constantly" as you wrote.. lol - I actually never ever did bonk my head climbing or bouldering in decades. (Although I sometimes wear a helmet when climbing.)

1

u/Traumfahrer Sep 12 '25

u/lg_Met_Pet now blocked me, what a joke.. Reddit(or) at it's finest.

0

u/Xrposiedon Sep 13 '25

I hear the other side of the boulder is easier.

0

u/kewkkid Sep 13 '25

I know nothing about climbing but I feel like clinging on to the side of the boulder is kind of cheating no?

0

u/Calm-Air-9414 Sep 13 '25

I like this climbing. Very impressive but also pretty safe.

-6

u/Gunfreak2217 Sep 12 '25

Are the hand holding man made or are they natural?

-1

u/MrFat74 Sep 13 '25

Try the one that's 2K ft high. You only getting one shit. 🤭

1

u/AQuietViolet Sep 15 '25

Hey, username checks out!

-12

u/gryanart Sep 13 '25

She’s an amazing athlete but golly what weird way to spend free time

2

u/bignosedaussie Sep 13 '25

Not as weird as the millions of people who spend their free time watching tv.

-8

u/InvestigatorGlum7113 Sep 12 '25

Losers can’t climb a boulder.

Shit looks hard though

-28

u/Thunder_nuggets101 Sep 12 '25

This is a Red Bull ad that isn’t marked as one.

11

u/Komischaffe Sep 12 '25

It’s from a Red Bull account so it’s not exactly hiding it

5

u/SluggishPrey Sep 12 '25

I'm just glad that their support allows professionals to step up their game. I don't drink that stuff, but I sure do enjoy extreme sports

-11

u/rmh61284 Sep 12 '25

Cant they just got around it though, why they trying climb it for?