Olympic competitions are famous for their photo finishes, but few are as captivating as the miracle Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw pulled off in the speed climbing finals.
Miroslaw and her competitor, China’s Deng Lijuan, stood up against the same 15 meter climbing wall. The Polish climber seemingly floated up the wall, scaling it in six seconds. Her time bested competitor Lijuan by a mere 0.08 seconds.
The final bout against Deng isn’t even Miroslaw’s quickest climb. Earlier in the season, Miroslaw set a world record of 6.06, which is 0.04 seconds faster than the one that earned her the gold. This is only the second time the Olympics has featured climbing as a sport, after introducing it in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
“A long story short, it’s like a dream come true moment,” Miroslaw told CNN. “It’s as simple as that. It’s the first [gold medal] in history, so it’s really awesome. I’m really happy and really proud of myself. It will be with me forever.”
Miroslaw was born Alexandra Rudzińska on February 2, 1994 in Lublin, Poland. She began her career in 2013 at the International Federation of Sport Climbing Championships in Chamonix, competing at the European level. Miroslaw broke into competing on the world stage in 2018, when she took home the Women’s Speed Gold at the IFSC Climbing World Championships.
She participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and despite setting two speed climbing world records, Miroslaw did not place, coming in 4th overall. Miroslaw came back with a vengeance, after setting yet another world record during the qualifying rounds for the 2024 Olympics.
The memorable bout against Deng earned Miroslaw her first Olympic gold medal. Fellow Polish competitor Alexandra Kalucka will join her on the podium, taking home the bronze.
For much of her career, Alexandra competed under the name Alexandra Rudzińska. She eventually married her coach Mateusz Mirosław, and now competes as Alexandra Miroslaw.