The World Climbing Series Krak\u00f3w witnessed another historic milestone as the Speed mixed relay event made its World Climbing debut. Thirty-two teams representing 20 nations started in the inaugural qualification round, with Team USA 1 taking first place ahead of today’s finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike the men\u2019s and women\u2019s relay events, which debuted internationally at last year\u2019s edition of The World Games in Chengdu, China, the Speed mixed relay had never previously been contested at international level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emma Hunt and Samuel Watson of the USA combined to set the first world record in Speed mixed relay history, stopping the clock in 11.22 seconds to top qualification. Their performance also established the inaugural Pan American record in the discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia 2, represented by Antasyafi Robby Al Hilmi and Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, finished second in 11.48, setting the first Asian record. Ukraine 2\u2019s Polina Khalkevych and Yaroslav Tkach qualified sixth in 11.94, a time that became the inaugural European record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although they did not advance to the finals, New Zealand\u2019s Sarah Tetzlaff and Ned Johnston also entered the record books, setting the first Oceania record with 17.90 seconds in 30th place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With no African teams competing in Krak\u00f3w, the continent\u2019s first Speed mixed relay record remains to be established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twelve nations qualified at least one team for tomorrow\u2019s final, with China, Indonesia, Italy, and Spain each advancing two pairs to the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final qualification spot went to host nation Poland, where fianc\u00e9s Anna Bro\u017cek and Marcin Dzie\u0144ski combined to clock 12.99 seconds for Poland 1, securing 16th place and the last ticket to the finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bro\u017cek welcomed the introduction of the Mixed Relay, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s super fun. There is a different kind of pressure, less pressure than an individual one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competing alongside her fianc\u00e9 made the experience even more enjoyable: \u201cI think it just makes it more fun. I think we know each other so well that it was easier to have fun in this. There was no discussion on who was going first. I was the first one in Chengdu last year, and he did a men\u2019s relay with Oskar in Madrid and he went second, so we just stuck to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Polish climber admitted she had been concerned about competing at home after arriving only the day before: \u201cI left my house only yesterday so I was scared that I wouldn\u2019t be able to get into the right mode coming from home, but when I got here, being in the hotel made me feel like it was a competition again. This is really a nice place to have the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With two finals awaiting her tomorrow, Bro\u017cek hopes to carry today\u2019s momentum forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m really tired after this because I did the individual and the mixed relay, and tomorrow I\u2019m in the individual finals and the mixed relay finals. I want to have that same vibe I had today,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dzie\u0144ski was equally enthusiastic about the discipline: \u201cIt\u2019s super fun. I was relaxed and I kind of love it, and I hope it\u2019s going to stay for long in our discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also joked about the team\u2019s race order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI loved to race with my fianc\u00e9e. She wanted to go first, so I didn\u2019t have a choice, but I think it was a good decision because I felt confident on the second race and I think I had a really good reaction time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead to the final, Dzie\u0144ski already has a target in mind: \u201cMy goal is that Anya should do six seconds, so I can do 5.10 and it\u2019s gonna be okay!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Climbing Series Krak\u00f3w witnessed another historic milestone as the Speed mixed relay event made its World<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[412,102],"class_list":["post-14448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-speed","tag-sport-climbing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t