The 22-year-old qualified for the gold medal competition by finishing in the lead section of the semi-final to place sixth overall in the Women’s Boulder & Lead at Le Bourget Climbing Venue.

The top eight athletes from the 20 competing in the semi-final progressed to the final, and Oceania’s total score of 124.7 (79.6 in Boulder and 45.1 in Lead) was enough to rank her second only behind France’s Oriane Bertone.

Oceania will go for gold in the final from 6.15pm AEST on Saturday.

Regardless of the result, Paris is already the best Olympic result of her career after she placed 19th in the combined format in Tokyo.

“I’m shaking and overwhelmed, but happy,” Oceania said.

“I was doing the math as we were walking over but they said I had to come over (to the media zone) now so I was refreshing and refreshing (the results).

“But just relief and excitement I guess.

“I haven’t been in an Olympic final before, and with this crowd I just can’t wait to do some more climbing with an amazing crowd behind me.

“I was actually quite nervous for the route so felt like I couldn’t stay very present, but looking back on it I think it’s a really fun climb. It was balanced quite nicely looking at the points.

“My expectations for the final are the same as always, just to go have fun and try my best.”

Oceania will now rest and recover before taking on both the Boulder and Lead climbs on the same day in a bid to win a medal.

“Lots of chilling out, eating good food, hanging out with my sister and cheering for the guys trying to keep it as normal as possible,” she said.

“Coming into this comp I wanted to experience it and not add any pressure, but being here with the crowd and everything it definitely feels more than just any world cup.

“It’s next level excitement.”

Reece Homfray