Speed Climbing Olympic Gold for Aleksandra Mirosław
The Polish climber also holds the women's speed climbing record of 6.06 seconds, which she put up earlier this week
Photo by: Lena Drapella/IFSC
After her first place finish today in the women’s speed climbing final at the Paris Olympics, Aleksandra Mirosław of Poland now holds two speed climbing records. The first is the women’s speed world record of 6.06 seconds, a time she raced in Monday’s Olympic seeding round. The second is the achievement of being the first athlete ever to be crowned Olympic speed climbing champion.
In today’s quarterfinal, Mirosław started the day off strong by besting Leslie Romero Perez of Spain. The semi-final was a tough one though, as she had to go up against her Polish teammate Aleksandra Kalucka. She beat Kalucka with a time of 6.19 to 6.34, earning her spot in the finals against Lijuan Deng of China. Deng fought her way to the finals by outracing Indonesia’s Desak Dewi in the quarter-final and Indonesian Rajiah Sallsabillah in the semi-final.
In the small final for bronze, Kalucka bested Sallsabillah after the Indonesian slipped down low on the route. In the final, Mirosław and Deng had flawless starts, and appeared to be neck and neck. Mirosław reached the top in 6.10 seconds, with Deng close behind in 6.18. Interestingly, both of these times would have been women’s world speed records had they occurred before Monday’s seeding round where Mirosław absolutely crushed the previous world record of 6.24. Deng’s time of 6.18 was personal best.
With these results Mirosław stood atop the podium with the first ever speed climbing gold medal placed around her neck. Deng earned silver and Mirosław ‘s Polish teammate Kalucka earned bronze. “It means a lot,” said Mirosław after her victory. “It’s the first time for Speed climbing and also for me here in the discipline. I have my flag, and I was standing on the podium [in] first place hearing the national anthem. It was amazing.”
Deng also shared her thoughts: “At the end of my climb I saw the numbers – I didn’t feel anything. I only knew that it was over. I realized it was my personal best. I’m a calm person, which is very good for this sport. I’m very proud that I could take the first Olympic medal in the sport for Chinese climbing. I’m grateful that the people and the country are always behind me.”
The men’s speed climbing quarter-final, semi-final, and final take place tomorrow, Thursday August 8.
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