American Sam Watson sets record in the speed climb but it's not enough for Olympic gold

LE BOURGET, France — Sport climbing birthed an Olympic conundrum Thursday at the Paris Games.

Sam Watson, an 18-year-old-American, set a new world record in the men’s speed climb when he completed the 49-foot tall route in 4.74 seconds.

Shortly thereafter, he received an Olympic bronze medal, to go along with his current title of "Fastest Climber in the World."

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It was a teachable moment for those unfamiliar with speed climbing, which is making its debut as a stand-alone medal event at the sport climbing competition. In the sport, Watson and the other climbers pull and propel themselves up the 49-foot tall wall with use of 20 hand holds and 11 foot holds.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Times determine seedings and world records in sport climbing. But the medalists, and winners in elite contests, are determined by head-to-head races. And it’s a blur, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals completed in about 20 minutes.

In his semifinal heat Thursday, Watson slipped and it cost him. He finished in 4.93 seconds and lost the heat to China’s Peng Wu, who finished in 4.85 records and advanced to the final.

Watson, relegated to the bronze medal heat, broke his world record of 4.75 by 1/100th of a second. He set the prior world record of 4.75 during elimination heats.

Moments later, in the final, Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo beat Cheng and set a personal best of 4.75 seconds – good enough for the Olympic gold but 1/100th slower than the world record Watson just set.

Sam Watson explains what happened

There were no complaints from Watson about the format used to determine the medal winners. If anything, the “tiny little stumble’’ he had in the semifinals seemed to underscore the nature of a sport.

“Just a couple of millimeters of an error is the name of the game in this sport,’’ Watson said. “No real regrets. I don’t think the pressure got to me or anything like that.’’

The stumble probably cost him 0.2 seconds, enough to make the difference in the head-to-head race against China’s Wu.

Next up for Watson: He said he hopes to drop the world record to 4.6 seconds, and he didn’t sound distressed being the current world record holder but having an Olympic bronze rather than Olympic gold medal.

“I think all of that stuff is external rather than internal,’’ he said. “I had a view of who I am in my mind, and that doesn’t really change related to my performance.’’ 

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.