Lena Drapella/IFSC
A 17-year-old Southlake climber became the fourth qualifier in the U.S. Climbing National Team for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Winning first place and a gold medal in the Men’s Speed event at the Pan American Games Santiago on Oct. 23, Sam Watson set the fastest qualification time out of 16 speed climbers with a time of 5.37 seconds. His first-place victory also earned him the chance to compete in the Olympics alongside fellow climbers Emma Hunt, Colin Duffy and Piper Kelly.
“I feel great,” Watson says via media release. “I feel like this is the culmination of my entire process that I’ve been working on for the past [several] years… since speed climbing as a single medal in November 2020. It’s been a huge deal for the past three years.”
You can watch Sam Watson compete in Paris at the Olympics on Aug. 6-8 next year.