Team USA’s Sam Watson Wins Bronze Medal In World Record Fashion
Aug 8, 2024, 5:11 AM | Updated: Aug 9, 2024, 11:39 am
PARIS – U.S. climber Sam Watson set the speed climbing world record for the third time on his way to a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The quarterfinal, semifinal, and finals for men’s speed climbing took place on Thursday, August 8.
Keep up with the Olympic medal count here.
#Bronze medal for USA! 🇺🇸
Sam Watson with an incredible World Record time of 4.74 seconds claims third place in sport climbing men’s speed. 🤯@TeamUSA | @ifsclimbing | #SportClimbing | #Paris2024 | #Samsung | #TogetherForTomorrow pic.twitter.com/30kLgB85lb
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 8, 2024
Sam Watson Breaks Own World Record In Paris
Watson was matched up with New Zealand’s Julian David in the quarterfinal.
The first race of the day was a breeze for the 18-year-old. He scaled the wall in 5.03 seconds and beat David by over half a second.
The other quarterfinal matchups were a quick wake-up call though. China’s Wu Peng beat his opponent by just two-thousands of a second and topped Watson’s time in the process. The winner of the third quarterfinal matchup also beat Watson’s time.
In the semifinal, Watson beat Wu’s previous time with a 4.93. However, the Chinese climber posted a new personal best to secure a spot in the final.
He broke his OWN world record but the job isn’t done 💫
Tune in now for Sam Watson’s men’s speed quarterfinal climb!
📺: @peacock#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/TKKDFoMN5r
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 8, 2024
Watson’s medal hopes were still alive though. He had a shot at bronze in the small final matchup against Iran’s Reza Alipour.
Watson showed that anything can happen in speed climbing as he recorded a world record time of 4.74 seconds in the bronze medal decider.
Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo claimed gold as he tied Watson’s previous record and beat Wu by two-hundredths of a second.
About Sam Watson
Sam Watson currently lives and trains in Salt Lake City. He started climbing at five years old while growing up in Southlake, Texas.
Watson has competed in two World Youth Championships and two World Cups. He qualified for the Paris Olympics after winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games.
His personal speed climb best is 4.74 seconds.
Follow The 2024 Summer Olympics With KSL Sports
The 2024 Paris Olympics takes place Friday, July 26, through Sunday, August 11. The Paris Games are comprised of 329 events across 19 days, with 754 competitions and ceremonies for more than 10,000 athletes.
Find KSL Sports coverage of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics here.
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Chandler Holt is a co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast, a Locals In The NFL Insider, and Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com. Follow Chandler on Twitter @CHoltSports or on Threads @chandlerho1t.
