SPORT CLIMBING Preview: Garnbret vs. Pilz again in World Cup Lead in Kranj

Slovenia's climbing star Janja Garnbret

The fifth of seven World Cups in Lead is getting set for Kranj (SLO), with new 2020 Tokyo favorite Janja Garnbret (pictured) ready to compete in front of a home crowd.

It’s only been two weeks since the IFSC World Championships, where Jessica Pilz (AUT) won the Lead title from Garnbret, but Garnbret dominated the Combined competition, which will be the only Sport Climbing event in Tokyo. The seasonal World Cup leaders:

Men:
1. 335 Jakob Schubert (AUT)
2. 286 Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA)
3. 230 Alexander Megos (GER)
4. 228 Domen Skofic (SLO)
5. 201 Romain Desgranges (FRA)

Women:
1. 380 Janja Garnbret (SLO)
2. 340 Jessica Pilz (AUT)
3. 181 Anak Verhoeven (BEL)
4. 167 Manon Hily (FRA)
5. 159 Ashima Shiraishi (USA)

Schubert (2), Ghisolfi (1) and Megos (1) have won the four Lead World Cups so far and Schubert has finished 1-2-4-1 and won the World Championships in Innsbruck to be the clear favorite. Ghisolfi has been the next most consistent at 4-1-5-2.

Although Pilz won the world title, Garnbret has finished 1-2-1-1 in the four World Cups so far to 2-1-2-2 for Pilz. They are the class of the field; Verhoeven has been third in the last two events to claim third so far. Shiraishi started the season hot with finishes of 8-4-4, but fell to 21st in the last World Cup event in Arco (ITY) in late July.

Look for results here.