LE BOURGET, France — Two world records, one Olympic gold medal.
Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw capped her dominant performance at the Paris Games by winning the women’s speed climbing gold in a photo finish Wednesday.
It was her first Olympic medal after just missing out on the podium with a fourth-place finish in Tokyo three years ago.
The gold came two days after she twice broke the women’s world record, 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 in 6.10, beating the 6.18 time of silver medalist Deng Lijuan of China . Aleksandra Kalucka of Poland won the bronze.
“It was a close final,” said Miroslaw, the 2023 bronze medalist at the world championships. “I just focused on myself and my run. I didn’t look on the right side, on the times, just focused on myself.”
American Emma Hunt, the silver medalist at worlds last year, failed to contend for a medal after slipping in her quarterfinal run.
“Just overthinking and not 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 is a favorite in the men’s speed event on Thursday. He is the world record holder in the event.
Miroslaw broke the women’s world record for the first time at the Tokyo Games, then did it nine other times since then.
Sport climbing debuted in Tokyo with a combined event that included speed, boulder and lead. In Paris, there was a medal for speed and another 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 good as I can.”
In other climbing events, Japan’s Sorato Anraku, a gold-medal favorite, sailed through to the finals in the combined boulder and lead competition after the 17-year-old had racked up a massive surplus in the boulder stage.
He climbed the fourth-highest in the lead event, in which athletes are given six minutes to climb a steep, 15-meter structure as high as possible in a single attempt.
His compatriot Tomoa Narasaki failed to make the final. Despite coming in second behind Anraku in boulder, the two-time Olympian fell on a tricky low section of the route in the lead event when he went for a high-risk move, losing a shot at redemption after just missing the podium in Tokyo.
Narasaki’s slip meant Britain was the only country to get both of its climbers in the final with Hamish McArthur sneaking through to join 19-year-old Toby Roberts.
