Sam Watson celebrates breaking the men’s speed world record – Credit: Al Bello-Getty Images
The lightning fast men’s speed climbing qualification rounds saw the Olympic record broken five times in the seeding heats alone.
That was until Team USA’s Sam Watson had his say. In his elimination heat against fellow American Zach Hammer, he ascended the wall in 4.75 seconds, 0.04 seconds faster than the world record — the one he set back in April.
Indonesian podium threats Veddriq Leonardo and Rahmad Adi Mulyono also had dramatic runs. Leonardo matched Watson’s former world record time of 4.79 and was the first to qualify to the final. Adi Mulyono, another heavy hitter, was disqualified from the seeding heats after a false start. Leonardo defeated him in the elimination heats.
Kazakhastan’s Amir Maimuratov climbed in a personal best 4.89 seconds to qualify as the third-fastest competitor after eliminating South Africa’s Joshua Bruyns.
Iran’s Reza Alipour qualified to the final with a run time of 5.06 seconds as the fastest elimination heat loser.
The top eight men advance to the final on Aug. 8.
Men’s speed semifinal (Top 8):
Sam Watson (USA): 4.75 seconds (WR)
Veddriq Leonardo (INA): 4.79 seconds
Amir Maimuratov (KAZ): 4.89 seconds
Matteo Zurloni (ITA): 4.94 seconds
Wu Peng (CHN): 5.00 seconds
Bassa Mawem (FRA): 5.16 seconds
Julian David (NZL): 5.20 seconds
Reza Alipour (IRI): 5.06 seconds
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