Fourteen Women will go for the first-ever Olympic Speed gold
When you think of women’s Speed, Indonesia, Poland, and maybe China spring to mind, and it’s true, these nations do have multiple entries at Paris 2024, but so do the French and USA.
These five nations make up 10 of the 14 participants in the women’s Speed with Spain, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa the others. But this is Speed, so no matter who the ‘favourites’ are, racing changes everything.
With an amended format from the usual seen at World Cup’s there are more opportunities for some shocks and surprises in qualification, while finals need athletes to focus even more than usual with one less race and an Olympic medal already within touching distance.
More information on the competition formats can be found here
The first women to qualify for Paris 2024 were Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi and USA’s Emma Hunt who took gold and silver respectively at the IFSC World Championships Bern 2023. Since that point, 12 other women have been vying for the coveted spots.
The win at the World Championships was Dewi’s first senior international gold, since then she has also added the Asian Games title from the postponed Hangzhou 2022 competition where she also set a personal best time of 6.36s – which is also the current Asian continental record. Dewi has only competed in one World Cup in 2024 where a false start in qualification meant she finished in 44th overall in Wujiang, China.
Hunt on the other hand is heading to Paris with her first ever World Cup gold medal which she secured in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA at the start of the year. The 2022 World Games winner also posted her best time with a 6.41s on her way to her maiden gold. That PB is a Pan American continental record.
The current fastest woman in the world is Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw. At the World Championships she was a heavy favourite to qualify, especially after breaking records on her way to three World Cup golds before the event. Finishing third meant she had to find another route to Paris, and she did it with a new mindset. Miroslaw was honest about the pressure she felt and after missing out on a Paris ticket she reset and took a more ‘fun’ approach. It paid off with qualification from the European qualifier event in Rome, Italy in yet another world best time of 6.24. Despite not competing in 2024 Miroslaw will once again be among the favourites as she holds the world, Olympic and European continental records.
The first country to fill their two-person quota was the USA. Piper Kelly has seen her success on the Pan American stage with a gold in the Youth Championship in 2017, then senior a year later, so hearing a Games ticket was up for grabs at the 2023 Pan American Games must have got Kelly’s attention. Kelly won the gold, beating teammate Hunt in the final, and duly qualified for Paris 2024. In her final event before the Games Kelly finished sixth at the Salt Lake City World Cup posting a PB of 7.47s.
Taking the Asian qualifier spot in Jakarta, Indonesia was China’s Deng Lijuan. Deng has won eight World Cup medals since 2022 – five gold and three bronze – and in the final World Cup before the Olympic Games took one of those gold medals posting a PB of 6.41s along the way in Briançon, France.
To finish 2024 the athletes from Oceania and Africa got their chance to secure a spot in their respective continental qualifier events.
New Zealand’s Sarah Tetzlaff won a gold in Boulder, a gold in Speed and a bronze in Lead at the same event in 2017 – the Oceania Youth Championships. Since then, she has focussed on Speed and came through the qualifier in Melbourne, Australia to become the first woman to represent her nation in climbing at an Olympics. Tetzlaff is also the holder of the Oceania continental record of 8.40 from the World Cup in Chamonix, France.
Just like Tetzlaff, South Africa’s Aniya Holder has varied her disciplines and won a Continental Championships in Boulder and in Lead in her homeland in 2021. Her first gold in Speed was once again in South Africa, but this time with the added addition of an Olympic ticket as it was the Africa qualifier event.
The final step for qualification was the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Shanghai, China and Budapest, Hungary.
China’s Zhou Yafei booked her place by winning the Shanghai event and taking second place in Budapest. Zhou’s best results in 2023 were eighth at the World Championships and sixth at the World Cup in Wujiang. In 2024 she chose to focus on the OQS, and it paid off with two podiums finishes, a Paris ticket and a new PB – 6.54s in Shanghai.
Joining Miroslaw for Poland is another Aleksandra, Aleksandra Kalucka. Both her and twin sister Natalia knew that only one could go to Paris with Miroslaw already on the start list – and it was Aleksandra who took the spot with a win in the Budapest OQS event to add to her fifth-place finish in Shanghai. Kalucka’s PB of 6.55s came at the Shanghai event and in her final World Cup before the Olympics she took silver in Salt Lake City.
With two podium finishes at the OQS, Indonesia’s Rajiah Sallsabillah joined world champion Desak in representing her country at the Games. Sallsabillah was second in Shanghai and backed it up with a third in Budapest. Her PB of 6.66s came at the Asian Games and her one and only World Cup gold came in Chamonix in 2023.
The other nation to fill their quota was hosts France. Capucine Viglione and Manon Lebon will fly the French flag after both coming through the OQS.
Viglione had a PB performance in Shanghai with a time of 6.68s and finished seventh overall. She also finished in seventh in Budapest. Before the OQS Viglione placed 11th at the World Cup in Wujiang and after the OQS placed eighth in Chamonix.
Teammate Lebon was 15th in Shanghai and eighth in Budapest to secure her spot, and in her final World Cup before the Games finished ninth in Chamonix scoring a PB of 7.01s.
Spain’s Leslie Adriana Romero Pérez also qualified via the OQS route and has had a taste of the podium in 2024. She won a European Cup in Innsbruck, Austria and silver at Mezzolombardo, Italy before making a PB at the World Cup in Chamonix – her best competition time is now 6.86s.
Also securing a Chamonix PB was Italy’s Beatrice Colli. The two-time Youth Worlds champion has warmed up for the Games by coming through the OQS and placing sixth at the World Cup in Chamonix – with a new best time of 6.91s - and seventh in Briançon.
The only climber in the women’s Speed with Olympic experience is Miroslaw who finished fourth at Tokyo 2020. With the Speed discipline her strength and offering a medal on its own, she will be hoping experience pays. For the others, their first Olympic action will be Monday 5 August at 13:00 (UTC+2:00) when qualification begins.