Before Paris, Oceania Mackenzie decided the best way to deal with the pressure was to treat it just like her usual international competitions.
The raucous atmosphere at the Le Bourget Olympic climbing venue quickly took care of that.
The 22-year-old from Melbourne has dealt with the unique Olympic pressure superbly, reaching the final in the women's boulder and lead event.
While Mackenzie dropped two places on Thursday in the lead section, she is ranked sixth overall and the top eight will decide the medals on Saturday.
It is her second Olympics, but the sterile COVID-19 atmosphere of Tokyo is far removed from Paris.
"I'm super-excited ... shaking and overwhelmed, and happy," she said.
"It's kind-of tricky, because I thought coming into this comp I wanted to try to experience it like I would experience a World Cup - not try to add any pressure.
"Being here with the crowd and everything, it definitely feels more than just any World Cup.
"I mean, to be expected, but it's next-level excitement."
This is Mackenzie's first Olympic final, after she finished 19th in the discontinued women's combined event at the last Games.
The gold medal remains for Janja Ganbret to lose. The Slovenian, who won in Tokyo, is an eight-time world climbing champion and she is dominating the competition as predicted.
Ganbret has posted the top score in the boulder and lead sections and she has a near-perfect 195.7 out of 200.
Austrian Jessica Pilz is next on 156.9 and Mackenzie has 124.7.
Fellow Australian Campbell Harrison finished 19th in the men's boulder and lead.
