Just when we thought the limits of human velocity on a vertical wall had been reached, American speed climbing phenomenon Sam Watson has completely redefined what is possible.
In a performance that has sent shockwaves through the climbing world, Watson obliterated the previous world record, clocking an unbelievably fast time of 4.64 seconds on the standardized 15-meter speed route.
The Historic Run
The record fell during the IFSC World Cup in Wujiang, China. Watson had already been flirting with world-record pace during the qualification rounds, but it was in the semi-finals where he unleashed a perfect run, combining explosive power with flawless precision to shave significant fractions of a second off the existing mark.
Words don't do it justice. You have to see the speed to believe it. Watch the history-making run below:
A New Era of Speed
To put this achievement in perspective, it wasn't long ago that breaking the 5.00-second barrier was considered the ultimate goal in male speed climbing. When Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo finally cracked the sub-5 mark, it was revolutionary.
For Sam Watson to now push the record all the way down to 4.64s isn't just an incremental improvement; it's a quantum leap. It suggests that we are nowhere near the ceiling of human potential in this discipline.
At just 18 years old at the time of the record, Watson established himself as the undisputed king of speed, setting a standard that competitors may be chasing for years to come. The race to sub-4.5s is officially on.
