Polish Olympic medal hopeful Aleksandra Mirosław beat her own world record not once but twice, and in less than five minutes, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Monday.
Mirosław, the favorite for gold in speed climbing, achieved the feat in her opening climb in the seeding round, in which competitors are seeded according to their best time.
In her opening run, she bettered her own world record of 6.24 seconds with a climb of 6.21. She barely had time to catch her breath before smashing her new record with a stunning 6.06 seconds.
Her achievement against South Africa’s Aniya Holder was greeted with astounded cheers from the crowd at Le Bourget Climbing Venue and saw her proceed to Wednesday’s quarter finals along with teammate Aleksandra Kałucka.
Mirosław explains in a video on the Olympics.com website that the speed wall is always the same in all competitions, whether the World Championships, World Cup, or the Olympics. “It’s always the same, the holds are in the same place,” she says, adding that each competitor has their own way of tackling the climb, called the “beta.”
The wall is 15 meters in height with a 5-degree incline, but Mirosław says the hardest part of Olympic competition is the “mindset and mental game because you don’t have time for mistakes.”
Olympic Sport Climbing is divided into three disciplines: bouldering, lead, and speed. In bouldering, climbers ascend a 4.5-meter wall without ropes, against the clock, and in the fewest attempts possible. Lead involves climbing the maximum possible height in six minutes on a wall of over 15 meters in height. In lead, climbers have not seen the route ahead of the event.
The first Olympic medals in Sport Climbing were awarded at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where climbers competed in all three disciplines. The 2024 Olympics will see a new format for the sport, with the speed event having its own set of medals and the bouldering and lead events being combined.
Her achievement against South Africa’s Aniya Holder was greeted with astounded cheers from the crowd at Le Bourget Climbing Venue and saw her proceed to Wednesday’s quarter finals along with teammate Aleksandra Kałucka.
Mirosław explains in a video on the Olympics.com website that the speed wall is always the same in all competitions, whether the World Championships, World Cup, or the Olympics. “It’s always the same, the holds are in the same place,” she says, adding that each competitor has their own way of tackling the climb, called the “beta.”
The wall is 15 meters in height with a 5-degree incline, but Mirosław says the hardest part of Olympic competition is the “mindset and mental game because you don’t have time for mistakes.”
Olympic Sport Climbing is divided into three disciplines: bouldering, lead, and speed. In bouldering, climbers ascend a 4.5-meter wall without ropes, against the clock, and in the fewest attempts possible. Lead involves climbing the maximum possible height in six minutes on a wall of over 15 meters in height. In lead, climbers have not seen the route ahead of the event.
The first Olympic medals in Sport Climbing were awarded at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where climbers competed in all three disciplines. The 2024 Olympics will see a new format for the sport, with the speed event having its own set of medals and the bouldering and lead events being combined.
Source: TVP Sport, RMF FM, olympics.com
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