On Tuesday, American youngster Sam Watson broke the previous world record in the relatively new Olympic sport of speed climbing. Two climbers compete against one other to be the first to reach a 15-meter wall first in this event.
Within the larger sport of climbing, which debuted at the Olympics in Tokyo, the speed discipline concentrates on one special skill. Sport climbing at the 2021 Olympics was a combined event with three specializations: bouldering, which involves short, complex climbs without a rope, lead climbing, which involves climbing up a rope to protection points, and speed climbing, which emphasizes speed above all else.
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Sport climbing was split into two medal categories for the Paris Games: a speed climbing competition and a combined bouldering and lead climbing event. Athletes compete against one another in speed climbing, where the goal is to climb a 15-meter wall as fast as possible. Slower climbers are eliminated in a bracket-style competition until only one victor is left.
Athletes claimed that the combined event unjustly blended many abilities and athletic accomplishments, creating what some called an unfair “circus” that didn’t fully highlight technical prowess. This separation into distinct disciplines addressed some of the criticism from the Tokyo games.
“The two events are completely different, and it’s obvious just by observing the body shapes of the climbers,” French boulderer Oriane Bertone, who specializes in bouldering and
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In the Olympic sport climbing speed event on Tuesday, Texas native Watson, 18, set a new world record with a time of 4.75 seconds set during the qualifying rounds. He surpassed his own mark of 4.79 seconds, which he had previously achieved at a World Cup competition in China earlier this year. Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia tied the record the same day that Watson broke it once more. Next up for Watson is a matchup with Julian David of New Zealand on Thursday in the men’s speed event quarterfinals.
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