46 TIME March 1/March 8, 2021
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JANJA GARNBRET21 • Climbing for goldWhen the delayed Olympic Games fi nally take place in Tokyo—
scheduled for July of this year—the sport of competitive climbing
will make its debut. In pole position to steal the show is 21-year-
old Slovenian Janja Garnbret, who has won the past four women’s
climbing world cups in a row. Despite never being featured in the
Olympics before, climbing is a visual sport that, with its spectacular
jumps and infi nite variations of problem-solving, lends itself to TV.
Garnbret hopes that the attention will take the sport to new heights.
And with climbing gyms around the world forced to close because
of the COVID-19 pandemic, plunging many into fi nancial diffi culty,
the international spotlight couldn’t come at a more crucial time. “I
have a responsibility to show the sport to the world, and to set a good
example,” Garnbret tells TIME. And while she hopes to get gold,
going to Tokyo is about more than just victory. “I’m the kind of person
who, if I’m not having fun, then I defi nitely won’t get a good result,”
she says. “I’m going there to enjoy it, because I know if I enjoy it,
everything will be O.K.” —Billy PerrigoOlivia
Rodrigo
17 • Breaking
through
BY GWEN STEFANI
At just 17, Olivia Rodrigo is a
master at turning her heartbreak
into something glorious. The
world is obsessed with her
breakthrough single, “Drivers
License”—which smashed
streaming records when it
debuted, and made her one of
the youngest artists to get a
No. 1 single on the Billboard
Hot 100— because while Olivia’s
storytelling is confessional and
intimate, it’s also larger than
life. By pouring her heart out
with so much courage and total
command of her talent, Olivia
made magic.
Every line in “Drivers
License” feels like it was ripped
out of Olivia’s diary, each one
containing a beauty and level
of detail that makes you feel
like you’re with her, driving
through the suburbs of Southern
California at night, lost in
thought. Rare is the artist who
can transport that way, especially
at such a young age. And for
anyone going through their fi rst
heartbreak, Olivia’s voice is a
light in the dark, a promise that
your pain can someday become a
deep source of power.
Stefani is a Grammy-winning
musical artist and producer
RODRIGO: JERRY MAESTAS; GARNBRET: JAE C. HONG—AP; DONCIC: RON JENKINS—AP;
PAGE: MORGAN LIEBERMAN—GETTY IMAGES