Paris Olympics: Why American climber said ‘it sucks’ after breaking own world record

AT THE GAMES — Team USA sport climber Sam Watson had an interesting reaction after breaking his own world record in speed climbing.

The 18-year-old from Southlake, Texas, scaled the speed wall in 4.75 seconds Tuesday, breaking the 4.79-second record he set at the World Cup in Wujiang, China, in April to advance to the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.

But as soon as the University of Utah student lowered his harness to the ground — and with the crowd going bonkers for his incredible feat — Watson cast his gaze to his opponent.

To scale the man-made mountain moments after Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo had matched his 4.79, Watson had to beat his Team USA teammate Zach Hammer. So before he advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinals, he walked over and embraced his teammate.

“It sucks,” Watson told the Associated Press of matching up with Hammer in the early rounds, “there’s no better way to put that.”

That’s not to say that Watson isn’t proud of his achievement. He was just battling mixed emotions three years after sport climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021.

“I suppose 4.75, the fastest time ever run in the Olympics in a timed sport,” said Watson, per CNN. “That’s a cool title, no one can take that away I suppose.”

 

 

Watson trains in the Salt Lake City area, where USA Climbing is headquartered. The non-profit sports federation has plans to build a new, 45,000-square foot facility in the Rio Grande District that could include a potential 99-year lease to keep the federation in the Beehive State.

Salt Lake has been good to Watson, too. He won gold at the IFSC Climbing World Cup in the city in 2024 — his third gold medal in a Climbing World Cup — before taking silver in speed in Wujiang.

Read the full story at KSL.com