Team USA’s Sam Watson Breaks Speed Record, Earns Bronze

Yesterday’s men’s speed climbing comp event at the Paris Olympics was one of the most exciting speed comps in recent memory. The first-ever speed climbing Olympic medals were awarded, the speed world record time was broken, and five out of the eight heats produced sub-five-second races. Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia took gold – the first for his country at the Paris Olympics – China’s Wu Peng earned silver, and Team USA’s Sam Watson won bronze.

In the quarter final, Watson bested Julian David of New Zealand, Wu beat Matteo Zurloni of Italy, Leonardo defeated Bassa Mawem of France, and Iran’s Reza Alipour Shenazandifard outraced Kazakhstan’s Amir Maimuratov. Wu and Zurloni’s race was incredibly close. Wu beat Zurloni by just two one-thousand’s of a second – 4.997 to 4.995.

The two semi-final heats were both sub-five-second races. Watson had an early slip-up but regained momentum quickly. It wasn’t enough though, with Wu outracing him 4.85 to 4.93. In the other heat, Leonardo beat Alipour Shenazandifard 4.78 to 4.84. Leonardo’s time was close to Watson’s world speed record of 4.75, which he established earlier in the week during the speed seeding round.

In the small final, Watson had a flawless race, once again breaking the world speed record with a time of 4.74 seconds. The race earned him the bonze, leaving Alipour Shenazandifard in fourth. “I have no regrets,” said Watson after the comp. “I don’t think I made any mistake as far as the input I gave as an athlete. Speed climbing is a very low-margin-for-error sport and I was up against some incredible athletes. So, no regrets. I’m really proud of Wu, and Veddriq who advanced to the podium with me. Re-setting another world record also means a lot.”

In the final, both Leonardo and Wu put up personal bests, with Leonardo coming out ahead by two one-hundredths of a second – 4.75 to 4.77. Leonardo’s time of 4.75 matched Watson’s previous world record.

“I feel very happy,” said Leonardo after his gold medal win. “I feel very joyful to bring the first gold medal for Indonesia at Paris 2024, to my country. I was very excited, and there was also anxiety. My heart raced, but I stayed focused and finished it. Now, I’m going back to Indonesia and focusing on training. We train together in Indonesia and focus on the next competitions and also to break the world record. There will be a welcoming party. It is going to be amazing for me.”

Leonardo has held the world speed record multiple times in the past. At the Salt Lake City Speed World Cup in May 2021, he established a new record of 5.20 seconds. The record held for almost a year until his countryman Kiromal Katibin put up a time 5.17 at the Speed World Cup in Seoul in May 2022.

In April last year, Leonardo broke the speed record twice at the Seoul Speed World Cup – first with a time of 4.984, and then again with a time of 4.90. The record was bested by Watson in April this year at the Wujiang Speed World Cup, where he raced a time of 4.859. Later in comp, Watson pushed the record further to 4.798.