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LE BOURGET, France — Sam Watson climbed a 49-foot overhanging wall in 4.74 seconds here on Thursday and didn’t win Olympic gold.
He scurried up a beyond-vertical surface like a supersized squirrel, and completed this standardized “speed climbing” course quicker than any human ever had.
He descended back to earth as the fastest man in the fastest Olympic sport, and thousands of fans rose to salute him.