BURSTThe men’s speed climbing world record time was broken not once, but twice today at the Speed World Cup in Bali, Indonesia. In the semi-final, Sam Watson of Team USA raced a time of 4.67 seconds, smashing his previous world record of 4.74. In the final, Team Japan’s Omasa Ryo had a false start, giving Watson the first place victory. With the gold medal already secured, Watson could have phoned it in for the race, but he instead gave it his all, reaching the top in 4.64 seconds – another world record.
With the Speed World Cup in Bali finished, Watson now holds six straight speed world records. In April last year, Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia broke the speed record twice at the Seoul Speed World Cup – first with a time of 4.984, and then again with a time of 4.90. The record was bested by Watson in April last year at the Wujiang Speed World Cup, where he raced a time of 4.859. Later in comp, Watson pushed the record further to 4.798.
In the elimination heats at last summer’s Olympic Games Watson broke his Wujiang world record by 0.04 seconds, achieving a time of 4.75. Later at the Games in the small final, Watson had a flawless race, once again breaking the world speed record with a time of 4.74 seconds.
“NFL players do the two-minute drill where they do a simulation of going through processes, and if I want to break a PB in practice I will do the same,” explained Watson after his latest world record and gold medal victory in Bali. “I pretend I win gold, my opponent false started, and I just want to give the crowd one more run, especially this crowd in here in Bali. Everything just went right.”
“The qualifiers and practice were boiling, he added. “I came back and put an ice pack on my head. But I am a competitor and the conditions affect everybody. I was lucky we got a bit of overcast so there was a little bit of shade, and I am really happy now. I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
What’s next for Watson? “I will be going down to the beach and hanging out for about a day and enjoying this backdrop,” he said. “I’ll relax for a bit and enjoy this beautiful city, country, island. Then I’ve got Denver. The World Cup Series overall is one of my goals and I am not going to let it go. I will keep pushing and not let it go to my head.”
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