The World Climbing Series Kraków 2026 concluded its Speed Relay in Kraków, Poland, on July 5 Beijing time. Deng Lijuan from Hunan's Leiyang, together with her teammate Zhou Yafei, stopped the clock at 12.89 seconds, claiming the women's title and setting a new world record.

Two pairs of Chinese athletes were fielded in the women's two-person speed relay. Deng and Zhou clocked 13.23 seconds in the qualification round, and then finished with 13.02 seconds in the semifinals and 12.89 seconds in the final, both breaking the world record.

With annual stops in multiple countries, the World Climbing Series is the world's highest-level climbing competition, hosted by World Climbing, a continuation of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). This season, the World Climbing Series added three speed series events, with the first stop in Kraków. The speed series included events such as the men's and women's four-lane speed climbing, the men's and women's two-person speed relay, and the mixed speed relay.

Deng Lijuan was born in Leiyang, Hengyang City, in May 2000. She initially trained in track and field events, before switching to climbing at Hunan Sports School, today's Hunan Sports Vocational College, in 2015. She joined the national team in 2017, focusing on speed climbing, and has won multiple titles in World Climbing stops. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won a silver medal in climbing, achieving China's first-ever Olympic medal in the sport.