Aleksandra Mirosław did on Wednesday what we all – journalists, fans, but also the athlete herself and her husband Mateusz, who is also her coach – dreamed of! She won the gold medal in the timed climbing competition. The story is all the more wonderful because Aleksandra Kałucka took the bronze. It's beautiful!
Ola Mirosław became famous in 2021 during the Olympic Games in Tokyo. “Ola rocked the games! Her performance was an explosion, an explosion of a mixture of talent, humility, hard work, charm, joy, tears, laughter and love. Her rallies We followed the wall with bated breath” – we wrote then in Sport.pl.
How the “Polish Spiderwoman” was born
In Tokyo in the time trial Shelf She broke the world record by 0.12 seconds (6.84) and won the competition. This is how the “Polish Spiderwoman” was born, as fans called her. But there was no medal. In Tokyo, climbing made its debut in the Olympic program. It was held in the form of a combination. It consisted of: time trial, bouldering and lead. Mirosław is a time trial specialist, she was not as strong in the other competitions. Hence the fourth place.
A year after the Tokyo Olympics, we went to Ola in Lublin to write a report about her and take a close look at how our champion is fighting to fulfill her dreams – that is, to win gold at the Olympics.
– After Tokyo, I experienced my own little mania – laughed Ola, who is recognized by fans on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Lublin, who ask for a photo and an autograph. – I didn’t feel it like that during the games themselves, although I saw my social media swell with each start. But it was only after my return that a little “boom” came. I drive a signed car, when someone recognizes me, they honk and wave. But it’s very nice – Mirosław told us. – Fortunately, I had a break from competing after the games. I was able to enter the media world, give interviews, and enjoy my success – she recalled in 2022.
The Polish woman then spoke about the difficulties of reaching the top. Her doubts about the future began to arise in November 2020. It was then, during the start in Russia, that the Polish woman suffered an injury, which in the case of athletes those who practice climbing often find it means the end of their career – a torn retinaculum in the finger.
– Then everything was questionable. When the retina is completely torn, there is no chance of its regeneration. This injurywhich takes a long time to heal. I remember how, back in March, Mateusz and I were wondering whether my start in Tokyo would be possible at all – Aleksandra explained to us at the time. – Doctors and physiotherapists did everything they could to speed up the healing, but they had no influence on certain things. Although my body found a way. Something happened that doesn't happen very often, if at all. A bone built up in the place of the rupture, thanks to which, despite the lack of a retinaculum, the tendon began to adhere to the bone. Today, no one is able to explain this – she recalled in an interview with Sport.pl.
– I don't know if any athlete could say this, but I think that… I needed this injury – Mirosław explained. – To make me realize how much I care, how strong my motivation is.
Because even though Ola Mirosław is the fastest climber in the world, the road to the top was long, arduous, full of disappointments. She often had moments of weakness and wanted to give up professional sports. “I taught at school until 2018, before that, to support myself, I worked in a sports equipment store,” she said.
Earlier, in 2016, a crisis came after fourth place at the world championships, which we wrote about at the beginning of the text. Fortunately, the Pole did not give up – today she receives the greatest award for her perseverance!
“There is a lot of pain. To win, you have to be flawless”
In 2022, we also asked Ola Mirosław what beauty she sees in her difficult discipline. “I don't know if any competitive sports discipline is beautiful. It's a brutal fight. It's beautiful on the podium, when you win, when you listen to the anthem. It's beautiful at the top. But there's a lot of pain down there. I fell in love with timed climbing because of the adrenaline and the pace of the competition. There's no room for error here. One slip can ruin several, sometimes a dozen or so months of preparation. In time trials, you have to be flawless to win,” she said.
And in Paris Mirosław was flawless! On the way to the final she broke her own world record (now it is 6.06), and in the final after an incredibly close race she achieved an excellent time of 6.10 s, compared to 6.18 s of the Chinese Zhou Yafei, who still broke her personal record.
This is one of the most touching stories of these Games.