Short answer
At Paris 2024, the first Olympics with speed as its own event, Veddriq Leonardo (INA) won the men's gold in 4.75 seconds and Aleksandra Mirosław (POL) won the women's gold, setting a world record of 6.06 on the way. Wu Peng and Sam Watson took men's silver and bronze; Deng Lijuan and Aleksandra Kałucka took the women's.
Medal races
| Race | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Gold-medal final | Veddriq Leonardo 4.75 vs Wu Peng 4.77 | Aleksandra Mirosław 6.10 vs Deng Lijuan 6.18 |
| Bronze-medal race | Sam Watson 4.74 vs Reza Alipour 4.88 | Aleksandra Kałucka 6.53 vs Rajiah Sallsabillah 8.24 |
A fall shows as the time of the last completed run; World Climbing's result page gives the full heat sheet.
Men's speed: full results
August 6–8, 2024, Le Bourget Climbing Venue. Fourteen men raced. Qualification had a seeding run and a first round of head-to-head heats; eight men came through to the quarter-finals.
| Place | Athlete | Country | Fastest time (s) | Last race |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Veddriq Leonardo | INA | 4.75 | Final |
| 2nd | Wu Peng | CHN | 4.77 | Final |
| 3rd | Sam Watson | USA | 4.74 | Bronze-medal race |
| 4th | Reza Alipour | IRI | 4.84 | Bronze-medal race |
| 5th | Amir Maimuratov | KAZ | 4.89 | Quarter-final |
| 6th | Matteo Zurloni | ITA | 4.94 | Quarter-final |
| 7th | Bassa Mawem | FRA | 5.16 | Quarter-final |
| 8th | Julian David | NZL | 5.20 | Quarter-final |
| 9th | Rahmad Adi Mulyono | INA | 5.07 | Qualification |
| 10th | Yaroslav Tkach | UKR | 5.11 | Qualification |
| 11th | Long Jinbao | CHN | 5.18 | Qualification |
| 12th | Shin Euncheol | KOR | 5.25 | Qualification |
| 13th | Joshua Bruyns | RSA | 5.84 | Qualification |
| 14th | Zach Hammer | USA | 6.05 | Qualification |
Sources: World Climbing result, men's final · men's qualification · Olympics.com
Women's speed: full results
August 5–7, 2024. Mirosław set two world records in qualification seeding, 6.21 and then 6.06, before winning the final in 6.10.
| Place | Athlete | Country | Fastest time (s) | Last race |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aleksandra Mirosław | POL | 6.06 | Final |
| 2nd | Deng Lijuan | CHN | 6.18 | Final |
| 3rd | Aleksandra Kałucka | POL | 6.34 | Bronze-medal race |
| 4th | Rajiah Sallsabillah | INA | 6.41 | Bronze-medal race |
| 5th | Emma Hunt | USA | 6.36 | Quarter-final |
| 6th | Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi | INA | 6.36 | Quarter-final |
| 7th | Zhou Yafei | CHN | 6.38 | Quarter-final |
| 8th | Leslie Romero | ESP | 6.89 | Quarter-final |
| 9th | Beatrice Colli | ITA | 6.84 | Qualification |
| 10th | Capucine Viglione | FRA | 6.86 | Qualification |
| 11th | Manon Lebon | FRA | 7.07 | Qualification |
| 12th | Piper Kelly | USA | 7.39 | Qualification |
| 13th | Sarah Tetzlaff | NZL | 8.39 | Qualification |
| 14th | Aniya Holder | RSA | 9.12 | Qualification |
Sources: World Climbing result, women's final · women's qualification · World Climbing
Since Paris
China's Long Jinbao finished 11th in Paris and has since lowered his best to 4.90, at the 2026 World Climbing Series round in Chongqing. Indonesia's Rahmad Adi Mulyono was ninth, the first man outside the quarter-finals; his 4.97 from 2023 is still his best.
Records set in Paris
| Time (s) | Athlete | Record | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.21 | Aleksandra Mirosław | World record | Qualification seeding | August 5, 2024 |
| 6.06 | Aleksandra Mirosław | World record, still the Olympic record | Qualification seeding | August 5, 2024 |
| 4.75 | Sam Watson | World record | Qualification seeding | August 6, 2024 |
| 4.74 | Sam Watson | World record, still the Olympic record | Bronze-medal race | August 8, 2024 |
Both world records have since fallen: Zhao Yicheng holds the men's at 4.54 and Emma Hunt the women's at 5.99. See Olympic records for how the two categories differ.
What about Tokyo 2020?
In Tokyo, speed was one third of a combined event with bouldering and lead, so there were no speed medals. Mirosław still set a world record there, 6.84 seconds on August 6, 2021. Paris was the first Games to award speed medals on their own, and LA28 keeps that format.
Questions people ask
Who won Olympic gold in speed climbing?
Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia won the men's event and Aleksandra Mirosław of Poland won the women's event at Paris 2024, the first Games with standalone speed medals.
What was the winning time in the Olympic speed final?
Leonardo won the men's final in 4.75 seconds against Wu Peng's 4.77. Mirosław won the women's final in 6.10 against Deng Lijuan's 6.18.
What is the Olympic record in speed climbing?
4.74 seconds for men, by Sam Watson in the Paris bronze-medal race, and 6.06 seconds for women, by Aleksandra Mirosław in Paris qualification.
Did any North Americans win an Olympic speed medal?
Yes. Sam Watson of the United States won bronze in Paris and set a world record of 4.74 seconds doing it. Emma Hunt finished fifth in the women's event.