The IFSC Speed World Cup visits its second new location of the year as Krakow, Poland is set to host the fourth event of the 2025 season.

Home to two Olympic Games Paris 2024 Speed medallists  - gold medallist Aleksandra Miroslaw and bronze medallist Aleksandra Kalucka – Poland follows Denver, USA as a new host venue for the ever growing discipline.

With a Speed wall on the Market Grand Square in the heart of Krakow Old Town  - the UNESCO World Heritage site - both locals and the tens of thousands of tourists that visit the Polish capital will see the worlds best Speed climbers in action and welcome home the Olympic medal winners.

Speaking ahead of a press conference to open the event, USA’s Olympic medallist and world record holder Sam Watson was excited to showcase the sport and bring climbing to a new live audience: “I feel really lucky to be in Poland, it’s a really cool place and it’s my first time in the country.

“The venue looks amazing. The city of Krakow, walking around, it’s such a cool, old town, and this venue - the square, the backdrop, it all looks amazing.”

Also at the press conference were Polish twins Aleksandra and Natalia Kalucka, and although excited, being at home brings other emotions to Natalia: “To be honest I’m a little bit nervous because I want to showcase my level to my home crowd. But I think I am ready because I’ve got a lot of experience in climbing now.”

Asked about what can be expected from a primarily home Polish crowd Natalia said: “I think it will be crazy. I think the crowd is quite specific in Poland, but quite friendly. I think they will give a bit more support to the Polish athletes so it will be a good motivation for us Polish climbers.”

Looking specifically on her goals for the event Natalia said: “My main goal is to focus on my personal performance. The first part of the season was a little hard for me as I feel I did quite a few little mistakes, so I want to only show the best of me during the competition.”

The Kalucka sisters will be joined by Miroslaw on the start list and headline a 15-strong Polish squad looking to delight a home crowd.

They will be up against a strong women’s line-up that includes Olympians and World Cup medallists – like China’s Deng Lijuan, USA’s Emma Hunt, France’s Manon Lebon, Italy’s Beatrice Colli and South Korea’s Jeong Jimin to name but a few.

In the men’s competition world record holder Watson will be competing against Olympic champion Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia who missed the previous World Cup in Denver. He is joined by teammate Kiromal Katibin who has medalled at every World Cup so far this season.

Some of the names from around the world in Krakow include New Zealand’s Julian David, China’s Long Jianguo, Austria’s Kevin Amon, Japan’s Omasa Ryo and world champion Matteo Zurloni of Italy.

With 122 climbers registered to start, the IFSC World Cup Krakow is set to be the biggest of the season so far, with not only World Cup medals up for grabs, but a potentially moral boosting performance ahead of the World Championships set to take place in Seoul, South Korea in September.

The competition begins with women’s qualification at 13:00 local time (UTC+2:00) on Saturday 5 July followed by the men’s qualification. Both finals will take place the day after on Sunday 6 July at 12:00 local time.