Slovenian athlete Janja Garnbret, who has dominated the world of sport climbing in recent years, has placed 9th on the influential Spanish sport newspaper Marca's list of the best female athletes in 2023.

Marca said Garnbret, who bagged the gold medals in the boulder and combined events and the silver medal in the lead event at this year's World Championship after winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics, is proof of talent in Slovenia.

"Garnbret is ready to defend gold from Tokyo and silver from the World Championships in Switzerland," the paper said.

The accolade comes after Garnbret was declared the Slovenian female athlete of the year for the fourth time by the Slovenian Sport Journalist Association.

Marca voted Serbian tennis player Novak Đoković the best male athlete of the year and American gymnast Simone Biles as the best among the women.

Manchester City became the best team, while Kelvin Kiptum and Tigist Assefa's world records in marathon were declared the biggest sport achievement of the year.