"I was pretty nervous today, like you don't expect that from me anytime, but I have to admit this time I was pretty nervous," said Garnbret after the qualifiers in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old came 14th in the opening speed event, a vertical sprint that is her weakest event, and said she cried after that less than stellar performance.

But the Slovenian then struck back, dominating the bouldering, in which competitors attempt numbered climbing problems set along a low wall.

"I was in such a flow state of mind that if you asked me how I did the number three (bouldering problem) I wouldn't know," she said.

Garnbret was the only climber to solve all four problems.

In the final lead event, a roped climb up a vertiginous wall, Garnbret came in fourth, a modest result for her, after falling from the 30th handhold.

"I knew that I'm already in the finals so I didn't climb my very best in lead," she said.

Australian teenager Oceania Mackenzie found the standard hard to cope with as she finished 19th of the 20 competitors after the three disciplines, way outside the top-eight who earned qualification for the finals on the Tokyo waterfront at Aomi Urban Sports Park.

The medal event will pit Garnbret against some of the world's top female climbers including Akiyo Noguchi and Miho Nonaka, of Japan, and Polish speed specialist Aleksandra Miroslaw.

Australian Associated Press