Olympic Games: Sport climbing: The fastest way to gold at the Olympics

The blazing midday sun shines relentlessly on the heads of the 6,000 people who made their way to Le Bourget, a northern Paris suburb in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, on Wednesday. Queues 50 meters long form at the water dispensers. The first decision in sport climbing is coming up, the speed discipline is experiencing its medal premiere with the women’s competition.

The midday heat is good for the athletes: After all, the muscles cannot be warmed up enough for the Olympic discipline, which has the shortest final of all 329 Olympic medal decisions. For the men it is over in less than five seconds, for the women the favorite Aleksandra Mirosław from Poland has already beaten her old world record of 6.24 seconds twice in the qualification on Monday: first 6.21, then 6.06 seconds . Should the sound barrier of six seconds be broken today?

Speed ​​climbing is easy for spectators to understand: from the quarterfinals onwards, two athletes compete against each other on two adjacent routes that are precisely standardized: 15 meters high, five degrees overhang, the shape and position of the holds and steps are identical worldwide. The athletes are secured from above with a rope. In addition to speed and maximum strength, the most important thing is precision when gripping and kicking. It is important to find the balance between explosiveness and accuracy. The climbers have internalized every hold and step on the route through years of training. At the end of the lightning climb they have to hit a buzzer, then the clock stops. The winner moves on.

Eight women have qualified for the Olympic premiere in Paris: two Chinese, two Indonesians, two Polish, one Spanish and one American. In Le Bourget, the dramas that the Olympic organizers had hoped for will take place in the round of the last eight. The American Emma Hunt fails spectacularly in her competition: her foot slips after almost six meters, a “slip,” as the climbers say – she climbs up, shaking her head. From the dream of the medal.

World champion Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi from Indonesia is hit even harder: The sports student from the island of Bali clocks in after 6.369 seconds, but her competitor Deng Lijan from China is still faster, even if only by six thousandths, as shown in green next to the buzzer : 6.363 s. The petite Chinese woman clenches her fist, the Indonesian woman covers her face with her hands, her dream has also been shattered. Desak Made Rita cries as she is lowered down the rope.

Meanwhile, the audience is clapping and dancing, and flags are being waved: the Polish one in white and red stripes, its Indonesian counterpart in red and white. In the first semi-final, 30-year-old world record holder Aleksandra Mirosław (6.19 s) gave her 22-year-old compatriot Aleksandra Kałucka (6.34) no chance. Deng (6.38) throws the next Indonesian out of the gold race in the semi-final two with Rajiah Sallsabillah (6.41). After 20 minutes the final has already been decided: Mirosław against Deng. The spectators won’t have to stand in the heat for too long.

After Kałucka won bronze in the small final, the “Big Final” is now on: Who will secure the historic first gold? Concentrated, the Polish woman and the Chinese woman step up to the wall, align their starting pads and “chalk” their hands with chalk. “At your marks!” At this command, they take the starting position: both hands on the wall, one foot on the pad: take a deep breath. Eyes closed. Focus. “Ready!” shouts the referee, then the starting signals: “Beep, beep, beep!”

Let’s go. As if thrown upwards by a catapult, the two fly upwards, seemingly weightless, with big cat-like suppleness. Every handle fits, every step fits. They hit almost at the same time, but only the world record holder’s display lights up in the winner’s green: 6.10 seconds! Aleksandra Mirosław from Poland is the first Olympic champion in speed climbing.

As he lowered himself, Deng smiled, dangling from the rope. There is no trace of the doggedness that the Chinese are said to have. After the award ceremony, she revealed that she didn’t have much hesitation: “I’m just proud to have won the first medal in sport climbing for China.” Her Polish colleague Mirosław was of course also happy: “It’s the first time speed climbing at the Olympics, and I’m on the top podium – unbelievable!” At the same time, she gave Poland the long-awaited first gold of the Paris Games.