By Kris Shannon in Paris
The fastest Olympic event is not the 100m sprint, nor the flying 200m in track cycling.
There’s a sport that speeds by in half the time it takes to complete those ponderous disciplines — and there’s a Kiwi teen who hopes to help it become one of our favourites to watch.
Julian David reached the quarter-finals of the speed climbing competition at Le Bourget in Paris, racing up a 15-metre wall faster than he ever had but falling to the world record holder.
The 19-year-old was eliminated in little more than five seconds, pushing too hard knowing the calibre of opponent required his best, but he would leave the games having already achieved his first dream.
Now, with time on his side, David his big plans for his next.
“This is the new fastest sport. Why wouldn’t you wanna watch it?” said the former youth world champion. “This is like a 100m sprint — everyone wants to watch that.”
That race, long regarded as one of the Olympics’ blue riband events, does have history on its side, and David’s discipline won’t match the prestige of the most exciting 10 seconds in sport.
But a New Zealander hasn’t reached the 100m final in a century, with Zoe Hobbs unable to break that drought earlier in the games.
David raced into the top eight of the speed climbing discipline in his maiden attempt, despite having little experience at the top level.
Standing beside him on stage when the quarter-finalists were announced was 39-year-old Frenchman Bassa Mawem. Forget about targeting only LA 2028; the Tauranga climber could compete for the podium for several Olympic cycles to come.
“[Mawem] is doing the best he’s ever done in his life at 39 — I’m 19,” David said. “I’ve got longevity so we’ll see what happens if I can qualify again. But that is definitely the goal.
“I’m super stoked I even made the finals. The fact that I even got to the race is pretty incredible. And I couldn’t be happier with a PB.”
That personal best was broken twice on the opening day of the event. First David qualified with the ninth-fastest time of 5.24s, then in an elimination heat he stopped the clock at 5.20s.
That was quicker than opponent and former world champion Reza Alipour — an athlete nicknamed the Persian Cheetah — and booked David a quarter-final date with American Sam Watson.
The 18-year-old came into the games as world record holder, and after losing both that mark and his semifinal duel, Watson set a new leading time of 4.74s in the bronze-medal race.
So, how fast can these athletes go?
“Initially we thought 4.5 but evidently that’s not true,” David said. “There’s people in training that have done quicker.”
Given that progression is natural in any elite sport, it’s fair to expect the next fastest climbers have barely touched a wall.
Speed climbing made its Olympic debut at Tokyo — alongside the more arcane lead and boulder disciplines — and with greater global exposure comes more participation and stronger competition.
David, who earlier in the year followed Ellesse Andrews and Maddi Wesche in winning the Halberg emerging talent award, recalled his own dream being sparked by what he saw in Tokyo.
“I do remember watching it four years ago, I was like 14 or 15, and thinking ‘I want to be there doing that’. And here I am,” he said. “If it inspires kids at home then that’ll be special for me.”
Kris Shannon has been a sport journalist since 2011 and covers a variety of codes for the Herald.
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