Paris, France, August 8, 2024: Indonesia’s long-term investment in sport climbing produced the ultimate reward on Thursday – an Olympic gold medal.
After Indonesia’s two female athletes in the women’s speed quarter-finals had missed out on a medal the previous day, Veddriq Leonardo made no mistake as he raced to gold in the men’s speed final at Le Bourget Climbing Venue.
In the final he beat China’s Wu Peng by hitting the top of the 15-metre wall in just 4.75 seconds – a personal best. Wu was not far behind in 4.77 – another personal best, as just two hundredths of a second separated the pair.
Veddriq, 27, became Indonesia’s first Olympic champion of Paris 2024 and only their second medallist, following a badminton bronze for Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in women’s singles.
Indonesia has long been a supporter of sport climbing, and included it when they hosted the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang as far back as 2011.
Veddriq defeated home hope Bassa Mawem of France in the quarter-finals (4.88 seconds-5.26) and Iran’s Reza Alipour Shenazandifard in the semi-finals (4.78, personal best, against 4.84, also a personal best).
Sam Watson beat Alipour for bronze with a world record 4.74 seconds to the Iranian’s 4.88.
Veddriq said he felt great joy to earn the first gold medal of Paris 2024 for his country.
"I was very excited, and there was also anxiety. My heart raced, but I stayed focused and finished it," he commented.
"Now I'm going back to Indonesia and focusing on training. We train together in Indonesia and focus on the next competitions and also to break the world record. There will be a welcoming party. It is going to be amazing for me."