Sam Watson broke his own previous world record at the Paris Olympics but fell short of winning his first Olympic gold medal.
The 18-year-old Texan sprinted to the top of the men's speed climbing wall in 4.74 seconds flat, 0.05 seconds faster than the world record he set in April and 0.01 seconds faster than the world record he set in the heats two days earlier. Despite his speedy run, he fell just short of the gold medal, taking the bronze behind Indonesia's Vedrick Leonardo, who won the coveted gold medal, and China's Peng Wu, who took the silver medal.
So how did Watson break world records and still miss out on a gold medal at the Paris Olympics?
Read on to learn why Watson's world record climb didn't win him a gold medal.
Why didn't Sam Watson win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics?
In the men's speed climbing, Watson and other competitors competed to scale the 49-foot wall in record time.
Watson's world record came in the bronze medal race after a tough loss in the semi-finals when he fumbled against Wu.
In that race, he completed the climb in 4.93 seconds, just slightly slower than Wu, who finished in 4.85 seconds.
Thanks to his win, Wu advanced to the finals, but was ultimately defeated by Leonardo in a close match. Leonardo was just 0.02 seconds faster than Wu, but Wu finished the match in 4.77 seconds, beating Leonardo's 4.75 seconds.
China's Peng Wu, Indonesia's Vedrick Leonard and America's Sam Watson pose with their medals during the men's speed medal ceremony at the Paris Olympics in France. Patrick Cachefe/Getty Images
What did Sam Watson say about racing?
After the race, Watson spoke with NBC 5 Dallas/Fort Worth about her bronze medal, saying it felt “amazing” to win her first medal, but in the semifinals she realized she'd made a mistake during the race.
“I made a little mistake, just a few millimeters and it slowed me down a little bit and then I lost my rhythm,” he said of his mistake. “Peng is an amazing athlete. There really was no room for error. Even if I'd recovered quicker, I don't think I would have brought it home, but I really gave it my all.”
Although he missed out on the gold medal, Watson says he has no regrets.
“I was just flying and doing what I was supposed to do. I don't think there was anything different on any of the laps,” Watson told The Associated Press. “You're only ever going to get a few millimeters off in this sport, so I don't really have any regrets. I don't think I felt any pressure or anything like that. I think I just stumbled a little bit.”
Has Sam Watson broken any other world records?
Yes. Watson is a three-time World Cup medalist (two gold, one silver) and set the men's speed world record at the 2024 IFSC Climbing World Cup, summiting in 4.798 seconds flat.
He then qualified for the Paris Olympics by winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in a time of 5.37 seconds, faster than the current Olympic record of 5.45 seconds.
