Polish speed climber Aleksandra Miroslaw breaks her world record twice en route to gold

Aleksandra Miroslaw won Poland's first gold medal in Paris on Wednesday in the women's speed climbing, having already broken her own world record twice at the 2024 Olympics.

At the Le Bourget venue, she climbed a 15-metre wall in 6.10 seconds, beating China's Deng Lijuan in a photo finish. The silver medallist set her personal best in the race, with 6.18 seconds.

"It means a lot," Miroslaw said. "It's the first time for speed climbing and ... I have my flag, and I was standing on the podium in the first-place [position], hearing the national anthem. It was amazing."

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

Miroslaw set the previous record of 6.24 seconds last year. She bettered it with a 6.21 before quickly smashing her record again with a 6.06, all in one day, during qualifying heats on Aug. 5.

Sport climbing is making its second Olympic appearance, but the Paris Games are the first where the speed discipline is a separate medal event from boulder and lead, as is the norm for the sport, due to the vastly different techniques required.

The smallest misstep can seal the fate of athletes in the Olympics' fastest race, as it did for American Emma Hunt. In arguably the day's biggest upset, Hunt was eliminated in the quarter-finals after her right foot slipped halfway up the wall. The 21-year-old had been the favourite to challenge Miroslaw for the gold.

A recently unveiled mural in Miroslaw's hometown will now need to be updated after her Olympics performances.

The life-sized mural features figures of Miroslaw in successive phases of climbing to the height of 15 metres, along with her old world record time and previous medal wins, and was ready in time for the Paris Olympics.

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