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Speed climber Veddriq wins first gold for Indonesia in Paris
With his win, Leonardo gave speed-climbing powerhouse Indonesia its first Olympic gold medal in a sport other than badminton, and only its ninth since its first appearance at the Olympics in 1952.
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Gold medallist Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo (center), silver medallist China's Wu Peng (left) and bronze medallist the United States' Sam Watson pose on the podium of the men's sport climbing speed event during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Le Bourget on Aug. 8, 2024. (AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand)
Speed climber Veddriq Leonardo clinched the gold medal in the men’s speed climbing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Thursday, a historic Olympic title for Indonesia and also the first for the country in this year’s Games.
The 27-year-old Veddriq defeated China's Wu Peng by just two-hundredths of a second, scaling the 15-meter wall at the Le Bourget venue in 4.75 seconds, AFP reported.
With his win, Leonardo gave speed-climbing powerhouse Indonesia its first Olympic gold medal in a sport other than badminton, and only its ninth since its first appearance at the Games in 1952.
Meanwhile, United States speed climber Sam Watson walked away with a bronze medal despite setting a world record in his last race, according to Reuters.
In a cruel twist of fate for Watson, his best performance on Thursday came in his final sprint up the 15-meter wall for the bronze medal, in which he beat Iran's Reza Alipour with a world record time of 4.74s.
Watson had been a favorite to take the title after eclipsing his own previous world record with 4.75s two days ago.
