No More Than 10 Seconds Needed. The Match Ends in 5 Seconds [Paris Olympics]

Sports Climbing Speed Decides Victory Fastest
15m Wall Climbing Speed Battle Tournament
Joy for Spectators, Cruel for Athletes

To win a marathon, you have to run hard for 2 hours. On the other hand, there is a sport where the medal color is decided in just 5 seconds. That is sports climbing speed. Among the official events of the 2024 Paris Olympics, it is the fastest to determine the winner.

Shin Eun-cheol is greeting fans after finishing the men's speed qualifying round in sport climbing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. [Paris=Yonhap News]

On the 6th (local time), the men's speed qualifiers held at the Le Bourget Climbing Arena in Paris, France, was a stage to witness the speed competition of the 'fastest spider in the world.' In the qualifying seeding round, Berrick Leonardo (Indonesia) touched the pad at 4.79 seconds, matching the world record set by Sam Watson (USA) in April this year. Watson then pulled ahead with 4.75 seconds in the qualifying tournament to determine the quarterfinalists. The crowd filling the arena cheered for the consecutive world records and enjoyed the charm of the fastest Olympic event.

Sports climbing speed involves climbing a 15m high, 95-degree inclined wall at high speed, and the first to touch the pad wins. It is conducted in a tournament format, adding to the excitement of watching. While the men's 100m track event, often called the '10-second battle,' is known as the 'fastest event,' this time, with sports climbing speed separated as a distinct event that ends in 5 seconds, it has inherited that title.

Sports climbing became an official event for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. One gold medal was awarded each for men and women. The rankings were determined by combining scores from speed, which is a race to climb quickly; bouldering, which involves solving four challenging problems on a 4.5m high artificial wall; and lead, where competitors climb a 15m high wall holding onto installed holds and compete for who climbs highest within 6 minutes. In Paris, the speed event is held separately, while bouldering and lead scores are combined and awarded as a combined event.

Shin Eun-cheol was the first Korean athlete to compete in the speed event. He lost to Wu Feng (China) in the qualifying tournament and did not secure a spot in the quarterfinals. "Speed is truly a brutal event. You have to warm up for 2 hours for a 5-second climb and prepare for 4 years. The first Olympics ended with 3 rounds totaling 15 seconds, but I will prepare for another 4 years for those 15 seconds."