| Samuel Watson | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 2006 |
| Birth Place: | Southlake, Texas, U.S. |
| Education: | University of Utah |
| Occupation: | Professional climber |
| Typeofclimber: | Speed climbing |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
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 holds the world record for the discipline at 4.74 seconds, accomplished at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, where he took a bronze medal.[2]
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 silver medal at the 2022 Youth B category of the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships in Voronezh, Russia, 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, setting the current world record of 4.74 seconds in the small final, climbing against Reza Alipour.[13]
Watson is originally from Texas,[7] and resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.[3]