A “Lifting” Sprint

Humans are not as strong as machines. Computers can calculate faster than the human brain. Robots are better at repetitive tasks than humans, so when we find out that a man actually beat a lift? It makes you feel good that the human body can still do something better than a machine. That’s why Polish climber Marcin Dzienski’s being lauded as a hero in what could be considered a science experiment pitting man against machine.

Marcin Dzienski raced and defeated an elevator on a six floor upwards race. The race took place outside the Westin Hotel in Warsaw at night, against an illuminated elevator. The 23 meters climb was completed by the top speed climber in 12.12 seconds. The 26 year old man is the 2016 speed climbing World Champion. His feat was achieved on a specially designed wall, and his victory was a close one with the elevator.

Speed climbing is a sport that is set to debut at the Olympics next year in Tokyo. It is an indoor rock climbing event which focuses on top speed. The sprint against the lift was a promotional event that Marcin hopes will raise awareness of this sport. He spoke of his childhood spent scaling apple trees in his grandfather’s orchard, which he said helped hone his climbing skills.