Alex Honnold On Janja Garnbret's Paris 2024 Olympic Performance | The Climbing Gold Podcast

Janja Garnbret has maintained a low profile since the last Olympics - Alex reveals a bit about what she's been up to behind the scenes. She also had a very interesting and unusual showing in Paris, the Climbing Gold crew breaks this, and more, down in their recap of Janja in Paris.
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[@pcch7831]

I can't wait for that feature documentary with Janja. She's so fascinating to me

[@borntoclimb7116]

Same here

[@JrBzLctCAYA]

The Crux Episode 1 | Full Episode | National Geographic

[@anon95274]

The insight into her lack of time for press makes me appreciate her more. I think we rarely get interviews of her, but when we do it’s always refreshingly honest and unrehearsed (like her Terrex Unfiltered series and her interview with Chris Kalous). On top of being a generational talent, she seems genuinely kind, humble, and funny, and it’s great to have someone like that be the face of the sport.

[@dinafoxm]

Thanks for the analysis! I'd just like to add that watching Janja closely, we have definitely seen her nervous and/or emotional on other occasions before. I think part of what makes her such a great athlete and role model is that yes, she possesses a self-belief that enables her to achieve the very best, but she also shows her emotions (not all the time ofc) and talks openly about the pressure she feels. I'm so glad to see that the GOATs (sorry Alex ;)) of our time, like Janja and Simone talk about mental health so openly, setting an example for athletes and non-athletes alike.

[@gavyndame3700]

A Janja documentary is going to be great

[@danielparsons2859]

Great analysis. The men's and women's competitions were really compelling. Highly entertaining. That is the shakiest I've seen Janja but what makes her so special is she always wins regardless of the circumstances.

[@chumdm3]

She is one of the best climbers alive male or female. She has an intuition about movement that I’ve never seen from any other climber aside from her massive power. I’m convinced she could climb anything she wants. Watch the vid where she floats Bugelgeisen. It’s remarkable. Nothing ever looks hard for her.

[@shanequastunningbrave5376]

Best female climber but nowhere the top bracket of best males, who climb 3 grades harder

[@ardaz6462]

she in nowhere close to best male climbers outdoor, the grades show that

[@CasualCommenter1892]

Alex could you reach out to Janja and do a podcast with Janja, i think everyone would love it

[@jingyangteoh685]

no one really speaks much of it, but janja on the slab was insane to watch. She stopped twice on the slab, standing on just one dual-tex feet each time (for a good 5-10s) to breathe, COMPOSE herself and reset her nerves. When she matched the top, it seemed like she had tears in her eyes from relief. Can you imagine the mental strength it takes to hold yourself together and PERFORM in that situation? It's one of many data points explaining why she's just so deserving of her wins (because yes, she finds a way to win even when things aren't going her way).

[@locomixer]

imagine the pressure on her shoulders where anything but dominant gold is a failure. thats why she roared af when she finally realized she did it. the pressure was out of this world.

[@allanhee]

Janja gets nervous or rattled on those occasions when she's feeling tremendous pressure to do something that hasn't been done before. Previous examples: 1) Vail - trying to clean sweep the boulder season, 2) Tokyo Olympics - trying to become the sport's first gold medalist (especially when struggling in speed during the SFs), 3) 2022 - when she lost to Mori while attempting to clean sweep the lead season.

[@ytfeelslikenorthkorea]

Janja felt rattled before the finger incident - I think the pressure of being the GOAT, returning Olympic champion was slowly getting into her head. When she was walking out of iso for the lead final, she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

[@JrBzLctCAYA]

For those who wants to see the video that Alex is talking about, the documentary featuring Janja : The Crux Episode 1 | Full Episode | National Geographic

[@bushytale4344]

thanks. :):):). so glad you guys put me on to her pre olympics. only watched the climbing. nothing else. janja is100% climbing gold. she's deff part spider for sure:):):).. Quality and way ahead.

[@AntonAdelson]

I kond of follow a lot of sports and Janja is just unique because I can't think of another sport where a GOAT contender was SO clear AND it's a woman even between all genders! Granted though, comp climbing is relatively new but, still, the fact that it's a woman who broke off soo far beyond all of her competition and not any man so far is... It's historical imho ❤️

[@shanequastunningbrave5376]

In almost every female sport there is one woman significantly ahead of the other women. Serena Williams is another example. Men's sport is always closer

[@AntonAdelson]

@@shanequastunningbrave5376 Serena Williams is indeed a great example! What are other ones? Amanda Nunes in MMA. Who else?!

[@grafzhl]

Janja only struggled on the low section because once she got her finger stuck, she refused to use that hand for generating swing for the laché move and did it one-handed instead. She probably could have used two hands, but I think it had become a mental thing at that point.

[@mcdick]

Yeah, and I think it also kinda hurt the lead too. I didn't seem like she had the flow. Of course the finger might have actually been really hurting too, even if nothing properly broke. Just something to break the mental place.

[@mattiasgonczi]

Yea, I agree. I do think she was startled and stressed,though. But boulder four was absolutely the finger. And doing that swing one handed like she did was insane!

[@shannonmcmurchy2618]

Janja truly amazes… I haven’t seen her less than 100% focused and solid for ages, but I remember when I first started watching climbing ( obsessively 🤪), she had more “off” days… I mean off for Janja is still a gold, it seems, but yeah, it was a surprise in a way to see her a bit rattled… appreciate John’s comment about how the true champions can still rise above when everything isn’t flow state peaches and cream… and Janja did just that. She is human, AND she is totally Next Level! What amazes me almost as much is that she really seems to be a decent human being - confident, yes, but in a kind of matter of fact way, I honestly don’t get a lot of sense of huge ego from her. Curious if people who know her see her as pretty “down to earth”? Anyway, love the show ❤

[@colemantrebor6574]

From the interview series from Adidas they talked about, she seems really down to earth as well

[@DarthDeth]

Who was in Paris ??

[@sophis9453]

4:48 Alex seem's to have been don't know about anyone else

[@0700andrea]

😂

[@bradistonfernhead7246]

Check out her compatriot, the cycling supremo Tadej Pogacar. He exhibits an identical vast superiority to the others racing. It's jaw dropping.

[@marcotroussier4224]

Bad idea to compare Janja to Pogacar.....

[@metalcl0ne]

where are the full episodes for these clips??

[@themeatpopsicle]

I would like to see some stats on her World Cup Finals performance. I would reckon she's flashed more problems than not.

[@borntoclimb7116]

Two great peoples, nice.

[@ochoymedio78]

I guess it's kinda expected since all three are from the US, but Janja is not Simone Biles, Janja is Nadia Comanecci. Nothing against Simone, she's a amazing and far away from her competition; but if you think about GOAT status in gymnastics and you are not from the US, you kinda have Nadia Comanecci as the gold standard.

[@georgemayatt896]

generally think she could compete with the men and be in the mix.

[@ardaz6462]

maybe, but they should just put women and men on the same boulders on tourneys. Then you would see how big the gender difference is

[@thegzak]

She’s of course the GOAT, but I just wanted to point out that Brooke Raboutou really gave her a run for her money, it was actually a pretty tight race between them, so props to Brooke as well!

[@DrunkenDemon]

Id like to see some more decades of her exploits, even in non competetive climbing :)

[@TonyFisherPuzzles]

Why are you in the toilet?

[@ClimbingGold]

Why are you not?

[@jackboyce]

Janja is not only the best competition climber, but she's also one of the only ones who never climbs outside. I wonder if those are related, and if this is a hint of where comp climbing is headed. Maybe the level will get so high, and the style will diverge enough from outdoor climbing, that it will no longer be possible to excel at both.

[@juliusriedelbauch7204]

So there is this recent video of her doing Bügeleisen Fb 8c two Times in a row with absolute ease.

[@NemoElohemi]

And Fontainbleu five in one day, apologising to the crew because it took so long 😂

[@js671]

She recently did a v15 boulder outdoors as well, sit start to a stand she had done before but she got it in a half hour session. I don't think there are any successful comp climbers who don't also climb outdoors.

[@kuntaikoful]

She just postet reels from ceuse

[@beachyGreg]

When are we going to be on this next level that everyone keeps talking about...

[@ClimbingGold]

Whenever you take it there, big guy ;)

[@YYRTSO]

My god, people dont use their own brain.. only Alex sees the real context of Janja climbing from this group of journalists.. 😅

[@weakhandshunter]

Who cares? She is excellent, but also human. I d rather like to see analysis of the boulders and lead moves etc.

[@dinafoxm]

The mental aspect is about 50% of the game with sport at that level. The top 1% of athletes are separated by their mental ability to deal with the pressure, their self-belief etc., so this discussion is so valid and important. High time that we talk about the mental aspects of highest level sport more.

[@joshh.3870]

Which pixel is Alex lmao

[@jornidema1884]

Don't forget our dutch pride in track femke bol and sifan Hassan the dutch field hockey females

[@Duder0n]

Sorry but Femke doesn't belong in the conversation for most dominant female athletes. She is a great sprinter, but (unfortunate for her) is running at the same time as one of the most legendary sprinters of our generation. Sifan, for sure. She is insanely versatile and deserves to be recognized for her incredible distance titles.

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Sydney MacLaughlin Lavrone in the 400 hurdles and 4x400 relay and Sifan in distance running secured GOAT status. Femke had a very mixed performance, with a brilliant relay anchor and disappointing 400 hurdles .

[@sophis9453]

​@@Duder0n Who comes to mind for me is Quan Hongchan for 10m Diving Actually she's only 17 so might wait a few years to see if she becomes dominant over that long period of time like the others mentioned Lim Si-hyeon for archery also who is dominating but only seems to have been competing internationally for the past couple years but getting gold for almost all of it

[@Farynt]

the glazing is crazy on this one

[@boogaloo4640]

The praise is justified. Don't be an ass

[@joshh.3870]

You copy and paste that from your last comment bud? You realize they’re talking about Olympic athletes? Ya know, the literal best at their craft of probably anybody to walk the planet.. 🤡

[@Farynt]

@@joshh.3870 idk what last comment you're talking about

[@drglobule8a]

Nice podcast. But you might have just edited out the "like", there must be at least a few scores of them per person, and they're like, you know, kind of, like, unnecessary. Well, at least we don't have to ask to see your passports to know you're American! ;-)

[@dudemanismadcool]

I use like way too much. I hate it, but it just happens because it's ubiquitous. Apologies on all our behalf. Australians are not immune 😅

[@thepersonaltv]

Weird you didn't talk about how Janja didn't top in lead as expected. In that, Ai Mori was better. Also was Ai Mori one of the few who beat Janja in the past

[@vidyasundaram864]

Yeah she did but she totally failed in boulder. And in semis they both tied lead. So at the end of the day, the fact that Janja is this good in both boulder and lead makes her way above ai mori who once in a while beats her in lead.

[@fertlhuber]

I am a bit disappointed by Alex. The matter is so mainstream - who is the GOAT? I hate the term. No doubt she wins everything. But does it make the matter interesting? For sure we do not need Alex, who knows so much about climbing, to repeat again and again, how good she is. I would like to listen to more "nerdy" things. And Alex is a true nerd, thats why I like him. And please: no podcast with Janja...