Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw became speed climbing's first Olympic champion as she flew up the wall only 0.08 seconds ahead of China's Deng Lijuan to win gold with her 6.10-second run.
Deng ran a personal best time of 6.18 seconds to take silver.
In the small final, Indonesia's Rajiah Sallsabillah took on Polish Aleksandra Kalucka. Both women ran their personal best times of 6.41 seconds and 6.34 seconds, respectively, in the semifinal to advance to the small final. In the end, Kalucka got the stronger start and raced up the wall as Sallsabillah slipped and finished off the podium.
"I was so happy and I couldn't believe that I just won [the] bronze medal. I'm super happy and proud of myself that I did it," Kalucka said of placing third.
American Emma Hunt had an explosive start to her quarterfinal run and had a slight edge over Sallsabillah until she slipped mid-climb.
"It was just overthinking and not [being] in the moment, and that's what I'll take from this," Hunt said of her slip. "I'll try to be more present in the future."
Sallsabillah took the lead to advance to the semifinal, where she lost against Deng, who beat her with a 6.38-second run. Deng advanced to the semifinal after upsetting Indonesia's Dewi Made Rita Kusuma Desak, who was the Asian continental record holder heading into the Games. Deng won that race with a personal best time of 6.363 seconds, 0.003 seconds faster than Desak.
Earlier, in the semifinal, Miroslaw broke the women's speed climbing world record when she finished with a run time of 6.06 seconds.
Women's speed climbing medalists
🥇Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL)
🥈Deng Lijuan (CHN)
🥉Aleksandra Kalucka (POL)