Aleksandra Miroslaw won Poland’s first gold medal in the women’s speed climbing event in Paris on Wednesday after breaking her own world record twice at the 2024 Olympic Games.

At Le Bourget, she climbed a 15-meter-high wall in 6.10 seconds, beating China’s Deng Lijuan in a photo finish. The silver medalist set her personal best in the race with 6.18 seconds.

“It means a lot to me,” said Miroslaw. “It’s the first time I’ve been speed climbing and… I got my flag and stood on the podium in first place and heard the national anthem. It was incredible.”

Her compatriot Aleksandra Kalucka won the bronze medal with a time of 6.53 seconds.

The previous record of 6.24 seconds was set by Miroslaw last year. She improved it with 6.21 seconds before quickly beating her record with 6.06 seconds – all in one day, during the qualifying heats on August 5th.

Sport climbing is participating in the Olympic Games for the second time, but the Games in Paris are the first in which the speed discipline will be held as a separate competition for medals from bouldering and lead climbing due to the completely different techniques required – as is usual in this sport.

The slightest misstep can seal the fate of athletes in the fastest race of the Olympics, as happened to American Emma Hunt. In what was probably the biggest surprise of the day, Hunt was eliminated in the quarterfinals after her right foot slipped halfway up the wall. The 21-year-old had been the favorite to challenge Miroslaw for the gold medal.

Mural in Hometown may need updating

A recently unveiled mural in Miroslaw’s hometown now needs updating following her performance at the Olympics.

The life-size mural depicts Miroslaw in successive stages of climbing to a height of 15 metres, as well as her old world record time and previous medal wins, and was completed in time for the Paris Olympic Games.

“The inspiration was Aleksandra herself, a girl from my city of Lublin. A petite girl who can run up a 15-meter-high wall in just over six seconds,” said artist Michal Cwiek. He chose a 1:1 scale image to “show people in a tangible way how difficult what this girl is doing is.”

“From the beginning, I hoped that after a successful performance at the Olympics, I would have to correct the time displayed on the mural and change the information about her achievements.”

Fortunately, Cwiek did not immediately change his performance after Miroslaw broke her record in the qualifying heats on Monday, but quickly improved it with 6.06. He now hopes the athlete can help when she returns home with her gold medal.

“My dream is to persuade Aleksandra to spray a stencil of her new world record on the wall herself.”

Bronze winner shares medal with twin

After pressing the green siren that confirmed her third place ahead of Indonesia’s Rajiah Sallsabillah, Aleksandra Kalucka let herself down to the safety rope and looked in the crowd for her biggest cheerleader – her twin sister Natalia, who missed the Paris Olympics after Kalucka finished last in Poland’s event.

“Without her I certainly wouldn’t be here and this is our shared medal, so we did it together,” said Aleksandra Kalucka, known as Ola, after winning the bronze medal.

“She is the most important person in my life,” said Ola. “So of course I caught my sister after the competition to talk to her about my feelings. We are so close and I am so grateful that my sister helps me so much. Without her I wouldn’t be here.”

It could also have been Natalia who was in action. She was the 2021 world champion and had taken the World Cup title from her sister last year.

The Kalucka twins have been competing together on the international climbing tour for years, but only one of them could make it to Paris, as Miroslaw had taken the other vacant place on the Polish team.

The sisters had cried over breakfast that June morning as they competed against each other in the final qualifying race for the Olympic Games in Budapest and the decision was made as to which of them would become an Olympian in Paris.

However, there was no sign of envy on Natalia’s part, who appeared in front of the camera with Ola after the race and gave a mock interview for television just for fun.

“How did you do it without a great person like me?” she laughed.

When Ola reminded her that she had just beaten her sister’s personal best at the Olympics – not once, but twice – Natalia feigned a bruised ego and scolded her sister for rubbing it in her face.

“You didn’t have to say that,” she said. “But I’m a proud sister. I’m not the star right now.”