Speed climbing is the first event in women’s sport climbing at the Paris Olympics. The discipline debuted in the Tokyo Olympics, but at that time we only had a climbing triathlon. It was only in Paris that speed climbing was separated, and bouldering and lead climbing were treated as a combination.
Speed climbing is a competition we have high hopes for. We have Aleksandra Mirosław, who has broken the world record many times and will want to make up for last year, when she did not win the European Games (silver medal) and the World Championships (bronze). Aleksandra Kałucka, who fought with her sister, Natalia, to qualify for the Games, is also competing. Both Poles are seen as among the main candidates for an Olympic medal, even a gold one.
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A failure disrupted the launch
In the Olympic competition, we have 14 competitors who started with two qualifying runs. Their goal was to arrange pairs in the eliminations. It was also possible to treat the competition in the qualifications as a training session, to test themselves on the Parisian climbing wall.
However, after only two runs we had technical problems. Competitors starting from one side had their start counted as a fall, even though they reached the finish line. They put their hand on a special button at the top, but the time did not stop. The Chinese Yafei Zhou and Indonesian Desak Made Rita were wronged. The American Kelly Piper and French Capucine Viglione, starting from the active side, finished their runs.
Record after record, but Mirosław swept the record
The electronics failure took over half an hour to repair. After that, Zhou and Made Rita were given a chance to run solo. Both set a new Olympic record (Zhou 6.54 s, Made Rita 6.52 s), beating result Mirosław from Tokyo (6.84). Their results were the best only for a moment, because the American Emma Hunt (6.36) climbed to the top of the wall faster.
Mirosław started in the fifth pair with the South African competitor, Aniya Holder, who is theoretically the weakest in the group. The Polish competitor quickly appeared on top, breaking a new world record – 6.21! The previous one (6.24) also belonged to Mirosław. The 30-year-old competitor confirmed that she belongs to the absolute world leaders and is in excellent shape in Paris.
Aleksandra Kałucka showed a very good performance, completing her first attempt on the wall in 6.47 s. She set a new personal record.
Mirosław is in a different league
In the second series, Mirosław moved along the wall as if in a trance. She shifted into an even higher gear. This time, she had an absolutely cosmic time – 6.06 seconds, a new world record she broke a few minutes after setting the previous one! As the classic used to say, “it’s a record of the 22nd century”!
Kałucka also improved. On her second attempt, she climbed to the top of the wall in 6.38 seconds.
Mirosław of course won the qualifications, Kałucka finished third. They were separated by Hunt with a time of 6.36 in the first series.
