Sam Watson (climber)

Samuel Watson
Personal information
Born (2006-02-27) February 27, 2006
Southlake, Texas, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Utah
OccupationProfessional climber
Years active2021–present
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Climbing career
Competition speed climbing
Sport
Coached byAlbert Ok
Medal record
Men's competition climbing
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2024 ParisSpeed
World Games
Silver medal – second place2025 ChengduSpeed
Bronze medal – third place2025 ChengduSpeed relay
World Cup (Overall)
Winner2024Speed
Second place2025Speed
World Cup
Gold medal – first place2026 KrakowSpeed
Gold medal – first place2025 ChamonixSpeed
Gold medal – first place2025 BaliSpeed
Gold medal – first place2024 Salt Lake CitySpeed
Gold medal – first place2024 ChamonixSpeed
Gold medal – first place2022 EdinburghSpeed
Silver medal – second place2024 WujiangSpeed


World Climbing Series
Gold medal – first place2026 KrakowSpeed
Bronze medal – third place2026 WujiangSpeed
Bronze medal – third place2025 DenverSpeed
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2023 SantiagoSpeed

Samuel Watson (born February 27, 2006)[1] is an American professional rock climber who specializes in competition speed climbing and represents the United States at IFSC Climbing World Cups. He held the world record for the discipline at 4.64 seconds, accomplished at the 2025 IFSC Climbing World Cup in Bali, Indonesia. He won a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[2]

Career

In 2021 Watson won a silver medal at the Youth B category of the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships in Voronezh, Russia. In 2022 he won a gold medal at the Edinburgh, Scotland IFSC Climbing World Cup, in speed, and became the youngest climber to do so.[3][4][5][6] Also in 2022, Watson won, a bronze medal at the Youth A category of the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships in Dallas, Texas, and won first in the US National Speed Climbing Championship.[7]

In 2023, Watson set a US and Pan American speed climbing records at 5.02 seconds,[8][9] at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup in Seoul, Korea.[10] At the Pan American Games that year, he won the gold medal and qualified in speed climbing for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[11]

In the leadup to the Olympics, he set a world record for the discipline at 4.798 seconds, accomplished in the 2024 IFSC Climbing World Cup in Wujiang.[12] At the Olympics, he lost to Wu Peng in the semifinal round, and took the bronze medal in the small final. Along the way, he broke his own world record twice. He set a world record of 4.74 seconds in the small final, climbing against Reza Alipour.[13]

Watson is originally from Texas,[7] and resides in Millcreek, Utah.[14]

Major results

Olympic Games

Discipline 2024
Speed 3

World championships

Discipline 2023 2026
Speed 71 1

IFSC Climbing World Cup

Discipline 2022 2023 2024 2025
Speed 5 3 1 2

References

  1. ↑ "WATSON Sam". Olympics. August 3, 2024.
  2. ↑ "2024 Paris Olympics". 2024 Paris Olympics. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  3. ↑ "Samuel Watson". Athletes. International Federation of Sport Climbing. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  4. ↑ McCarvel, Nick (May 18, 2023). "Speed climbing is as fast as it's ever been - and Samuel Watson has the moves to go even faster". Olympic News. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  5. ↑ Bowker, Paul (September 12, 2022). "Samuel Watson captures World Cup climbing gold in Edinburgh". Team USA. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  6. ↑ Burgman, John (September 12, 2022). "Americans Golden In Lead And Speed at Edinburgh World Cup. Records Smashed. Results". Climbing.
  7. 1 2 Pardy, Aaron (November 12, 2022). "Sam Watson and Callie Close Win USA Speed Climbing National Championships". Gripped.
  8. ↑ "Speed records". USA Climbing. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  9. ↑ "Speed records". International Federation of Sport Climbing. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  10. ↑ "General result speed men". IFSC – Climbing World Cup (B,S) – Seoul (KOR) 2023. International Federation of Sport Climbing. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  11. ↑ "Grossman, Grupper, and Watson Qualify for Paris 2024".
  12. ↑ "SUPER SAM LOWERS SPEED WORLD RECORD – TWICE!". IFSC. April 12, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  13. ↑ "Team USA's Sam Watson Wins Bronze Medal In World Record Fashion". KSL Sports. August 9, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Why the still-shunned 'ugly stepchild' of climbing is taking off in Salt Lake City". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
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