Aleksandra Mirosław successfully finished climbing a fifteen-meter wall in six seconds, making her the first athlete to win gold in the sport of speed climbing in the Olympics. She defeated Deng Lijuan from China in the final event.
With her victory, the athlete expressed: “A long story short, it’s like a dream come true moment… It’s as simple as that. … It’s the first [gold medal] in history, so it’s really awesome. I’m really happy and really proud of myself. It will be with me forever.”
Climbing as an Olympic sport
Three years ago in Tokyo, climbing made its Olympic debut with three disciplines: lead, bouldering, and speed. However, the format has been modified in this year’s Olympics, with a separate set of medals now given for speed climbing.
Mirosław, even though she was the fastest climber in the world and won the final, she only managed a fourth place finish in Tokyo, almost missing out on the medals.
She admitted: “I never have been specialized in boulder or lead, I was always a speed climber… So it’s a big privilege to be here and have the opportunity to compete in my discipline. But on the other hand, it doesn’t mean it’s easier. It’s much harder, I would say.”
Miroslaw beat Deng in the final, setting a new world record of 6.06 seconds, which is 0.04 seconds faster than her previous best. Her first record, from the Tokyo Olympics, was achieved nearly a full second faster.
“I just focused on myself, on my next round, and before every round it was like that, just run… Whatever happened, just run,” she remarked.