World record holder, USA’s Sam Watson won gold in Chamonix, giving him his third gold of his career.

Watson had a consistent run during the finals rounds and posted three times under 5-seconds in the competition – 4.83, 4.84, 4.88.

The American climber beat China’s Wang Xinshang, who had to settle for the silver medal with both slipping in the final and posting times of 6.24 for Watson and 7.76 for Wang.

Talking about his consistency Watson said: “I’ve been working on my consistency with a boring two months training, well boring is not the right word, but tedious training cycle where I tried to work hard every day and I was looking forward to this trip so much. Having consistent 4.8’s and near the world record is a dream for sure and shows I am in the right place.”

When talking about his win, Watson continued: “I feel great. I kind of had a Chamonix curse where I didn’t do well for the past two years, my worst comp of the year, but then to come back in my last event before the Olympics and get a win, my third win, in front of all these people that came out was just one of the best experiences as a climber.”

Third place and the bronze medal went to Spain’s Erik Noya Cardona who took advantage of a slip and fall from Japan’s Omasa Ryo in the bronze medal match.

Posting a 5.05 in that match up, Noya Cardona said: “It’s my second medal in Chamonix. This place has a lot of meaning for me, this is the competition I like the most. After I didn’t qualify for the Olympics it was hard for me so being back on the podium, trusting myself, gaining some confidence, breaking my record, it was huge for me. It was something unexpected but something I really needed. It is really a push for me, for Spain, and I am really happy about this and I will go and party a bit today – I think I deserve it.”

Omasa had earlier set a PB and Japanese National record with 4.97, and there were other records that fell in the qualifications round.

Italy’s Matteo Zurloni set the European record with 4.97, New Zealand’s Julian David set the Oceania record with 5.44 and South Africa’s Joshua Bruyns set the African record with 5.73.

Full men’s Speed results here

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