On Friday, October 23, 2026, at the climbing wall in Steam Factory, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice hosted the Slovak Academic Bouldering Championships. Thirty-seven competitors from nine universities and six high schools took part in the event. Daniela Vajdová and Jakub Fábric were crowned Slovak Academic Champions.
The event was organized by UPJŠ in cooperation with TJ Slávia UPJŠ and the Slovak University Sports Association. Following the student anthem “Gaudeamus Igitur,” the competition was officially opened with a speech by Dr. h. c., Prof. MUDr. Pavol Jarčuška, PhD., Vice Rector for Strategic Development and Investments at UPJŠ.
Ten women and twenty-seven men competed: students from seven Slovak universities, two Slovak students from Czech universities, and seven high school graduates from six secondary schools. The qualifying round was held using the flash system: competitors had two hours to climb twelve boulders. The men’s competition was exceptionally close, as seven competitors completed all twelve boulders, and the final standings were determined by the number of attempts. The top six women and top six men advanced to the finals. They faced four boulders, which they climbed using the on-sight system – climbing without being able to see their opponents’ attempts and with a four-minute time limit for each boulder.
In the women’s category, Daniela Vajdová (Gymnázium, Trebišovská 12, Košice) took first place, having climbed three of the four boulders in the final.
The silver medal went to Rebeka Ozaniaková (Comenius University in Bratislava)
and the bronze to Rebeka Novotná (Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice).
Among the men, Jakub Fábric (University of Technology in Brno) triumphed as the only finalist to complete all four boulders in the final.
Samuel Hamza (Secondary Technical School of Electrical Engineering, Zochova 9, Bratislava) finished second,
and Tomáš Takáč (Technical University of Košice) finished third.
The female and male winners were awarded the titles of 2026 Slovak Academic Champion in Bouldering. The top three competitors received medals, certificates, and prizes.
We congratulate the medalists and wish all competitors much success in their future athletic and academic endeavors.
We are grateful to all competitors for their participation and performances, the judges for their work, Steam Factory for providing the venue and co-organizing the event, and everyone who helped prepare the event.
Photos: Jakub Tomáš
