Hannah Meul won silver in the women’s bouldering final at the European Championships. Gold went to Janja Garnbret from Slovenia.
On Sunday (08/14/2022) Hannah Meul had her strongest moment in the third boulder in the final when she took the course on the first try. A flash, so the optimal score. Meul even climbed from fourth place to first place for a moment. Because Janja Garnbret also managed a flash immediately afterwards, Meul’s flirt with gold was short.
In the end, Meul, 21, was a strong second because she also entered the scoring zone in the fourth boulder. She skipped the last thirty seconds, it was probably a matter of strength. She waved to the onlookers, then stepped away, beaming.
Silver, Meul is at a loss for words
“It’s just amazing, I don’t even know what to say, it’s great”, Meul said. Silver in bouldering, her flagship discipline – it’s the biggest success of her career. In 2020 she was German champion in bouldering, the following year she came second. And now this.
A few weeks ago it hadn’t really looked as if she could be in full possession of her powers. At the beginning of July, after second place at the World Cup in Innsbruck, a corona infection threw her off the track, the course was by no means mild, she had to stop training for two weeks.
Garnbret – the favorite prevails
The gold medal for Garnbret, on the other hand, came as no surprise. The 23-year-old was the first ever Olympic champion in combined at the 2020 Olympics, she is also a six-time world champion and she had already won gold in the lead at the European Championships.
Bronze went to Oriane Bertone from France, the 2019 World and European Youth Champion.
Flea and Megos in the lead final
From 6.45 p.m. the Germans Yannick Flohé and Alex Megos will also compete in the men’s lead final. Both had qualified for the final in the morning.