The 20-year-old Širůčková reached the final from a split eighth place, so on paper she was not one of the favorites in the fight for a medal. In the final, she started first and reached the 39th place. That was a feat that only two of the remaining eight competitors surpassed. The winner of the semi-final, Mattea Pötziová from Austria, was also close, but she scored only 38+, so she finished fourth, just behind the Czech climber.
Širůčková made her mark on the international stage among adults for the first time. She was thirty-second at last year’s European Championship, and took 34th place at the June World Cup race in Innsbruck.
She took advantage of a sparse starting field. At the European Games, which are not the European Championships for sport climbing, only seventeen women took part in the difficulty. The absolute top European leader, led by the Slovak Janja Garnbretová, was missing. Even the best Czech representative in this discipline, Eliška Adamovská, did not participate in the European Games.
Širůčková took care of the sixth Czech medal at the third year of the European Games, which takes place in Krakow and other Polish cities. Today it was the third valuable metal after the gold of canoeist Martin Fuksa and the bronze of taekwondo player Dominika Hronová.
European Games in Krakow – sport climbing: Difficulty: Women: 1. Pougetová 43+2. Avezouová (both Fr.) 42+3. Širůčková (Czech Republic) 39