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Holding the world record in the fastest Olympic sport technically makes you the fastest-ever Olympian. For Team USA’s speed climber Sam Watson, this title was within reach, but the medal race had a different outcome.

In the men’s sport climbing speed event final on Thursday, Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia scaled the climbing wall in 4.75 seconds, clinching the gold medal. This time was just .01 seconds slower than Watson’s newly set world record. China’s Peng Wu took silver with a time of 4.77 seconds, making Leonardo the first person to win an Olympic gold medal for Indonesia outside of badminton and the first for the nation at the Paris Games.

“I feel so amazing, grateful for the competition today,” Leonardo said. “I made my dream come true.”

Despite setting several world records, Watson had to settle for bronze. “Obviously, I wanted the gold, I wanted to be on the top of the podium, but a couple of millimeters went wrong on my second race, and that’s just how it is sometimes. Congratulations to Wu and Leonardo — I’m very excited for the future of speed climbing,” he remarked.

Earlier this year, the 18-year-old Texan set a new world record of 4.79 seconds at the World Cup in China. Then, during the Paris Olympics, Leonardo matched his 4.79 mark. Moments later, in the elimination heats, Watson broke his own record, setting a new world record of 4.75 seconds.

In the semifinals, Watson lost to Chinese climber Peng Wu with a time of 4.93-4.85. Fueled by the loss, he set another world record of 4.74 seconds in the bronze medal race.

Sport climbing, a relatively new addition to the Olympics, awards two sets of medals: one for the combined lead and bouldering event and one for the speed event. This is a change from its inaugural appearance at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where a single medal was awarded for a combined event.

The decision to combine all disciplines into a single medal event was controversial among climbers, who argue that speed climbing requires less technique and creativity compared to lead climbing and bouldering. In lead climbing, climbers aim to get as far up a higher wall as possible, while bouldering involves solving shorter, more technical routes. Speed climbing focuses on who can ascend a 15-meter-high wall the fastest in a head-to-head race.

Key Points:

i. Gold for Indonesia: Veddriq Leonardo wins gold in men’s speed climbing with a time of 4.75 seconds.

ii. Silver for China: Peng Wu secures silver, finishing in 4.77 seconds.

iii. Bronze and World Records: Sam Watson of Team USA sets multiple world records but settles for bronze.

iv. New Olympic Structure: Sport climbing at the Paris Olympics features separate medals for lead/bouldering and speed events.

v. Controversial Combination: The decision to combine all climbing disciplines into a single medal event at the Tokyo Games was contentious among climbers.

Conner T – Reprinted with permission of Whatfinger News