American climber broke a world record for speed climbing but didn’t win gold. Here’s why

Sam Watson beat his previous world record at the Paris Olympics but it was not enough to get him his first Olympic gold medal.

The 18-year-old Texan raced to the top of the wall in the men’s speed climb at 4.74 seconds flat, 0.05 seconds faster than the world record he set back in April and .01 second faster than the world record he set just two days before in an elimination heat. Even with his quick hustle, the athlete was just short of winning gold, taking home bronze behind Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo, who secured the coveted gold medal and China’s Peng Wu, who won silver.

So how did Watson break a world record but lose out on gold at the Paris Olympics?

Read on to learn why Watson’s world record climb didn’t get him the gold medal.

Why didn’t Sam Watson win gold at the Paris Olympics?

During the men’s speed climb, Watson and other athletes raced against one another to propel themselves up a 49-foot wall in record time.

When Watson set his new world record, he did so in the bronze medal race. This happened as a result of the semifinals, in which Watson slipped up in his climb against Wu and it cost him big.

During that race, he completed his climb in 4.93 seconds, which was just a little slower than Wu, who came in at 4.85 seconds.

Thanks to his win, Wu advanced to the finals where he ultimately lost to Leonardo, who beat him in a nail-biting finish. Leonardo was just 0.02 seconds faster than Wu, who cleared the match in 4.77 seconds flat to Leonardo’s 4.75 completion time.

What did Sam Watson say about the race?

After the race, Watson spoke with NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth about winning bronze and he said it felt “great” winning his first medal. However, when it came to the semifinals, he recognized that the mistake he made during the race.

“I just made a little bit of a mistake. A couple millimeters off, slowed me down a little bit and then I just lost it,” he said in regards to his slip-up. “Peng is an incredible athlete. There was really no margin of error there, like, I couldn’t have taken that home, regardless if I recovered even faster, but I really left it all out there.”

Though he lost out on gold, Watson says he has no regrets.

“I was just flying and doing my thing. I think nothing really changed between any of my laps,” Watson said to the Associated Press. “Just a couple millimeters of an error is really the name of the game in the sport. So no really regrets. I don’t think the pressure really got to me or anything like that. I think I just made a tiny little stumble.”

Has Sam Watson broken any other world records?

Yes. Watson is a three-time World Cup medallist (two gold, one silver). At the 2024 IFSC Climbing World Cup, he set the world record in men’s speed when he completed his climb in 4.798 seconds flat.

Then, he earned his spot at the Paris Olympics when he won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games with a time of 5.37 seconds, which is faster than the current Olympic record, which stands at 5.45 seconds.