Aug 6, 2024 - Sports

USA's Sam Watson breaks world speed climbing record at Paris Olympics

Erin Alberty

Speed climber Sam Watson scampers up the climbing wall Tuesday at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images — Sam Watson at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Image

Rock climber and University of Utah freshman Sam Watson broke his own world record for sport climbing during a qualifying round Tuesday at the Paris Olympics.

State of play: Watson, who hails from Southlake, Texas, made the climb in 4.75 seconds, beating his own previous record of 4.79 seconds, set in April at the International Federation of Sport Climbing World Cup in Wujiang, China.

Moments earlier, Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo had just matched Watson's previous record.

How it works: Climbers scale a 15-meter wall (about 49 feet), typically in less than six seconds for men and seven seconds for women.

Worth your time: Y'all have to watch the video of Watson's climb; it's like a Spiderman movie.

What's next: The speed quarterfinal is Thursday.

The big picture: Sport climbing is divided into two categories — speed, and boulder and lead.

Bouldering is done without ropes. The lead event challenges climbers to go as high as they can within six minutes, on a route the climber hasn't seen before. Boulder and lead heavily emphasize the problem-solving components of climbing.

Zoom out: Two USA women are advancing to Thursday's boulder and lead finals after Tuesday's semifinals eliminated all but the top 8 scorers.

Colorado's Brooke Raboutou ranked third, with Salt Lake City's Natalia Grossman in fifth.

Meanwhile, Georgia's Emma Hunt advanced to the women's speed quarterfinals Wednesday.

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USA's Sam Watson breaks world speed climbing record at Paris Olympics

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