Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
In today’s Speed World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, Emma Hunt placed second, thus securing an invitation to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for the Speed category (separate from Combined Lead and Boulder). She earned her ticket after winning against former Olympian and the current world record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw, who slipped early in the race. In first place and also with an Olympic ticket was Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma. On the men’s side, Italy’s Matteo Zurloni and China’s Jinbao Long will also go to Paris. In total, twenty athletes will qualify for Speed in the Games.
Leading up to this competition, Hunt had already earned quite a bit of World Cup hardware—four silver medals and one bronze—since she began competing on the circuit in 2019. The 20-year-old Georgia native was the first American woman to run sub-eight and is the current US record holder with 6.83.
“I’m very surprised,” Hunt told the IFSC. “There was so much pressure. I can finally breathe. I was trying not to expect anything, to just stay in the present moment and just go with everything.”
Full recap coming soon.