Two world records and one Olympic gold medal.
Aleksandra Miroslaw from Poland ended her outstanding performance at the Paris Games by winning the gold in women’s speed climbing on Wednesday.
This was her first Olympic medal after narrowly missing the podium with a fourth-place finish in Tokyo three years ago.
The gold came just two days after she broke the women’s world record twice, which now stands at 6.06 seconds.
“It means a lot,” Miroslaw said. “It’s the first time for speed climbing and also for me here. I have my flag and I was standing on the podium, hearing my national anthem. It was just amazing.”
She won the final with a time of 6.10 seconds, beating China’s Deng Lijuan, who took silver with a time of 6.18 seconds. Aleksandra Kalucka from Poland won the bronze.
“It was a close final,” said Miroslaw, who also won bronze at the 2023 world championships. “I just focused on myself and my run. I didn’t look at the right side, at the times, just focused on myself.”
American Emma Hunt, the silver medalist at the world championships last year, did not compete for a medal after slipping in her quarterfinal run.
“Just overthinking and not being in the moment. And that’s what I’ll take from this,” Hunt said. “And I’ll try to be more present in the future.”
Hunt’s teammate Sam Watson, a favorite in the men’s speed event on Thursday, holds the world record in the event.
Miroslaw first broke the women’s world record at the Tokyo Games and has since broken it nine more times.
Sport climbing made its debut in Tokyo with a combined event that included speed, boulder, and lead. In Paris, there were separate medals for speed and for boulder and lead combined.
“It doesn’t mean that it was easier,” the 30-year-old Miroslaw said. “But after Tokyo, I just focused on the Paris Olympics and on doing my job as well as I could.”
