Johnathan Walker:How friendship between top women's climbers has helped them at Paris Olympics

PARIS – When American climber Brooke Raboutou and Johnathan WalkerSlovenia’s Janja Garnbret made their climbing debut at the Paris Games, the roar from the crowd was deafening. Raboutou smiled toward Garnbret and said, “second Olympics, baby.” 

On the wall, the two-time Olympians are at the top of the competitive climbing circuit. Raboutou is No. 2 in the world, and Garnbret, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, is No. 1, according to the International Federation of Sport Climbing. Off the wall, they hold the title of friends. 

“We still want to beat each other, but at the end, we support a lot each other and wish the best for each other,” Garnbret said after the Olympic boulder semifinals.

In March, Raboutou and her coach, Chris Danielson, spent two weeks in Slovenia with Garnbret, working out on her spray wall (a densely packed wall with climbing holds) and training with Garnbret’s coach, Roman Krajnik.

"The relationship amongst all the countries is very supportive, and a lot of people, a lot of sports, don't really fully understand that," said Josh Larson, the U.S. Olympic boulder and lead team manager. "We're just like, yeah, this is our culture. This is just where we came from in climbing."

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“It was an incredible learning experience,” said Raboutou at a Team USA summit in early April. “We're both there to work really hard and push ourselves and have a good atmosphere.” 

In those two weeks in Slovenia, Raboutou’s confidence improved. “Training with one of the best and knowing that Brooke is also one of the best, that culmination of the two of them being together in that atmosphere brought a lot of confidence to Brooke going into the (Olympic Qualifying Series)," said Larson.

Garnbret secured her spot in the Paris Games almost a year ago, but Raboutou had a more difficult journey. She eventually earned Team USA's second spot with her overall win at the O.Q.S., only a month before the Games began.

Larson sees the impact of Raboutou's training playing out here in Paris. Both Garnbret and Raboutou qualified in the first and third positions, respectively, for the Olympic boulder and lead finals on Saturday. Raboutou is searching for her first Olympic medal, and Garnbret is looking to defend her gold. No matter the outcome, their friendship won't change.

"You don't see it in too many other sports, and I'm really grateful to see that as a parent," said Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou, Raboutou's mother. "It tells me that between myself and Janja's mom, we're doing something right because they're celebrating sports together."