Olympic climber Sam Watson misses out on gold in bitter loss despite setting new world record

Sam Watson has departed the Paris Games with another world record under his belt but without the coveted Olympic gold medal .

The American shattered the world record for the sport climbing speed for the second time at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday. However, this achievement was in the battle for bronze after he was knocked out in the semifinals.

Watson, who at just 18 years old was the strong favourite for the gold, was defeated by China's Wu Peng in the semifinals before setting the record-breaking time of 4.74 seconds in the third-place heat.

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The results mean that, technically, the fastest climber ended up taking home the bronze medal.

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Watson initially broke the record with a time of 4.75 in an elimination heat two days prior. He had held the previous world record of 4.79 since April.

The gold was clinched by Indonesia's Leonardo Veddriq with a time of 4.75 in the final, while Peng finished with 4.77.

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He broke his own own climbing world record in speed sport climbing in the Games.

Watson said: “Obviously I wanted the gold, I wanted to be on the top of the podium, but a couple of millimeters went wrong on my second race and that’s just how it is sometimes.

"Congratulations to Wu and Leonardo — I’m very excited for the future of speed climbing.”