Climbing: Polish climber Dzienski pips lift in man vs. machine race

[September 10, 2019]  (Reuters) - It may not match the feeling of winning a world championship but Polish climber Marcin Dzienski's feat of racing and defeating an elevator up 23 meters will certainly have given him a lift.

The 2016 world champion who is regarded by many as one of the top speed climbers, took 12.12 seconds to achieve the feat as part of a Red Bull event in Warsaw.

Few would have given Dzienski a fighting chance in the man-versus-machine battle up six floors, but the 26-year-old defied all expectations to climb up a specially designed wall and pip the elevator in a close contest.

Dzienski, who honed his skills as a youngster scaling apple trees in his grandfather's orchard, is raising awareness about sport climbing which will make its Olympic debut next year.

The combined event in Tokyo will see athletes' ranking across the three disciplines of speed, bouldering and lead climbing merged to give a cumulative score.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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