"Will it be a surprise or will it be the favourite?" intoned the master of ceremonies early on Wednesday afternoon at the Le Bourget Climbing Venue as top seed Aleksandra Miroslaw was limbering up on Wall A adjacent to the anointed outsider Lijuan Deng on Wall B.
A matter of moments later, the 8,000 spectators gathered around the combat zone had their answer.
Miroslaw had surged up the array of holds pinned into the 15-metre wall on a 5 percent incline in 6.10 seconds to claim the first Olympic speed title in women's sports climbing.
Deng, the sixth seed from China, finished in 6.18 seconds.
Miroslaw's fellow Pole, Aleksandra Kalucka, won the bronze following her scramble up the wall against Rajiah Sallsabillah from Indonesia. Those slug-a-beds offered up 6.53 and 8.24 seconds respectively.
On Monday, during the first round of qualification, 30-year-old Miroslaw set a world record of 6.06 seconds.
"I wasn't thinking about the time," said Miroslaw after her rapid ascent to gold.
"The one thing on my mind was just run ... whatever happens, just run. It means a lot, because the Paris Olympics is the first time for speed climbing and also the first gold for me.
"I have my flag and I was standing on the podium, hearing my national anthem. It was just amazing.”
Sports climbing made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021 six years after its governing body, the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC), suggested the idea to the International Olympic Committee, the outfit which oversees the Olympic Games.
Difference
In Tokyo, two sports climbing events were contested: men's combined and women's combined - a medley by any other name. It involved speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing.
It was an amalgamation that did not sit well with the wider sports climbing community. Nor with a future Olympic champion.
"I'm really happy with this gold medal," added Miroslaw.
"I was also at the Tokyo Olympics and there was only the combined event so I've been happy that since Tokyo I have been able to focus on my specialty. It's really awesome."
Insiders at the IFSC say that the federation had to take what was on offer to establish a foothold in the Olympic firmament.
In four years in Los Angeles, it is hoped that boulder or lead climbing might have their own medal events.
Change
For Paris 2024, shorn of the speedsters, the combined medal in the men's and women events will incorporate lead climbing and bouldering which will take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
"For me, the speed is totally different from the boulder and lead," said Miroslaw.
"I never have specialised in those so for me, it was a huge challenge to prepare for Tokyo."
For IFSC observers and local government bosses, the fans wending their way to and from the venue on the northern tip of Paris have vindicated the move to expand the sports climbing imprint on the Olympics and the decision to regenerate the area with improved tennis courts and football pitches as well as a new multi-sport gymnasium that boasts a sports climbing wall.
Olympics windfall brings prospects of happy days to Paris suburbs
“The Olympic Games has been the project that has made the regeneration happen," said Quentin Gesell, mayor of Dugny, a town next to Le Bourget. "And it's something to be proud of."
The optics of the event blazed out too. Capacity crowd, searing sunshine, Abba's Mamma Mia booming out of the weapons-grade public address system, a happy, clappy spectacular.
"Of course, we all know that speed is something that can immediately be understood by the fans," said Fabrizio Rossini, communications director at the IFSC.
"It's fast and it's simple. We were struggling in Tokyo a little bit because we were forcing athletes to do different disciplines combined, which was not good for the speed and was not good for the athletes."
