Speed Climber Mirosław looks to beat own World Record in Munich
Do you think you can better your own world record set in Tokyo?
Aleksandra Mirosław: Yes, for sure! Maybe in Munich.
But let’s start from the top. Aleksandra Mirosław, born Rodzińska, began her sport career doing laps in the pool. After six years of swimming the Polish native accompanied her older sister to sport climbing practices. “I think I always deeply believed that one day I would be a world champion. And that I would be the best in the world,” the 28-year-old declared in our exclusive interview.
Having set the current world record of 6.84 seconds in speed climbing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Mirosław can say her confidence wasn’t unfounded. After the very first training session she fell hook, line and sinker for sport climbing. Trading the water for carabiner hooks, ropes and early falls to the mat.
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SPORT CLIMBING DISCIPLINES
Soon she realised that there were three different disciplines to choose from:
In speed climbing the athletes scale a 15-metre-high wall with a fixed and standardised route as fast as possible, while in lead and boulder the routes are unknown before the start of the competition.
A boulder can be up to four metres high and is climbed without a rope. The climbers must solve a multitude of so called “problems” to get to the top. Whoever cracks with most cruxes with the least attempts wins.
The endurance event lead is climbed with a rope on a route with an overhang. You only have one attempt to solve the successive problems with a time limit of six minutes. The route can be just as high as the speed climbing wall, with a minimum height of 12 metres.
Unlike her sister Mirosław decided to focus on speed climbing. Which mostly requires strength and explosiveness, while solving problems on the spot in lead and boulder demands a more technical skill set.
A DECADE OF CHASING THE WORLD RECORD
Ten years before Tokyo, years before sport climbing became an Olympic sport, Mirosław almost broke the world record at the World Cup in Chamonix in 2011: “I was close but never close enough.”
2013, 2018 and 2019: Again, again and again the Polish-born athlete came up agonisingly short watching others push the envelope. Nevertheless, she crowned herself world champion in 2018 and 2019. Nine months before the Olympic Games, having already qualified, she injured a finger on her right hand. Not the type of injury you can tend to while sprinting up a 15-metre wall, pushing yourself upwards with your hands. But she kept going.
Finally, at the inaugural sport climbing finale at the Olympic Games Mirosław fulfilled her dream. In the process, she scratched off an entire tenth of the existing world record, setting a new time to beat of 6.84 seconds: “I was really happy, and I was crying after that.” The relief was immeasurable. “It was awesome. And for me it was the best place to break the world record, which I’d been running after for ten years.” And with that the two-time world champion had achieved all she set out to do.
When the International Olympic Committee announced that only one set of medals would be awarded for sport climbing, and the three disciplines would make a triplet the climbing world was outraged. But like everyone else she had to start training the foreign disciplines for a shot at an Olympic medal. “I think everyone tried to do their best [...] in the discipline in which they are not the best,” Mirosław says laughing. Even though the pain of finishing just off the podium lingers on. In Paris 2024 there will be two sets of medals up for grabs - one each for the new combined event (boulder & lead) and speed. European Championships Munich 2022, however, will award a total of four gold, silver and bronze medals – one for each discipline and the additional one for the new combined Olympic format, making Munich 2022 the first international competition to introduce the new format.
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OLD-SCHOOL BETA FOR THE WIN
Mirosław has refocused her training on speed climbing only. “Everyone said, before the Olympics, running by my beta is the kind of old-school beta and it’s no way to break the world record.” ‘Beta’ is climbing jargon for information on how to successfully ascend a climb. As the speed climbing route is known, everyone arrives with a rehearsed beta.
Over the years the ‘Tomoa-skip’, a climbing strategy introduced by Japanese boulderer Tomoa Narasaki, from the free-hold to the five-hold became popular, many athletes changed their beta accordingly. And Mirosław agrees “it’s probably the fastest.” Nevertheless, she has stuck with her beta since 2014, but did consider a possible switch: “It was kind of a hard decision for me and my coach to not make it. But I really believed in my coach and our plan.” The 28-year-old says she felt comfortable with her beta and her gut instinct told her to keep it, because she knew she could be the fastest with it. Additionally, she had the goal to prove the doubters wrong: “I proved it is possible.”
“Climbing is not just about the beta. It’s also about strength and conditioning, preparation and different stuff.” Therefore, the Polish climber doesn’t think anyone will switch (back) to her beta. And she might even change it herself. Even with a proven march-route you can just sense when there is room for improvement. “So, you need to change it to make progress.” More progress for Mirosław would mean a new world record. And she’s convinced she can do better. “In Tokyo I had a really bad start reaction, like 0.27 seconds, I think. So, I have like 0.1 seconds to get low, and I will run like 6.74 seconds. I think that is still a lot of space to break this world record. The plan is to make my best this year.”
GOALS FOR MUNICH 2022 AND SPORT CLIMBING
Ultimately, she won’t have many opportunities to outdo her world record in 2022! Mirosław will only compete at a few World Cups such as Moscow, Salt Lake City and perhaps Seoul. Nevertheless, she is eying a new world record: “Maybe in Munich. The European Championships in Munich will be my main start. Probably it will be the best competition for me this year.”
In “München [German for ‘Munich’]” she has a clear goal: “Probably like everyone else I want to win the European Championship title.” Most of her German skills from the three school years of language classes have faded, she admits, but she’s happy to be able to pronounce the host city’s name perfectly. “For me the most important part is to do my best,” in languages and for her sport. A “good performance also makes sport climbing more popular. Obviously, the world record during the Olympics really helped promote the sport everywhere in the world.”
Overnight Mirosław became a sporting celebrity in Poland. The climbing world has known her for years, but now she’s constantly recognised and approached in her hometown of Lublin: “I can say I’m popular in Poland and it’s kind of nice. But probably when you start to be more popular it’s tiring.” Thankfully, there is an upside to the fame. “It’s really awesome that sport climbing is on one level with other sports, like athletics and different really popular sports in Poland.”
As an avid fan herself, Mirosław is looking forward to watching athletics in person in Munich: “We have a really strong team.” And “triathlon can be really interesting for me.” For entertainment just as much as for possible training input: “I love watching another sport, and the best athletes in the world, because I can learn a lot.” She’ll be able to watch the beach volleyballers, as they’ll be competing at Königsplatz as well.
“I think that the fans of beach volleyball can be[come] interested in speed climbing by accident. You see something, someone climbing, ‘oh, what is this?’ And you’re like ‘ok, I can watch this.’” Experiencing a world record live would be a happy accident, wouldn’t it?