Southlake’s Sam Watson has been dreaming of this moment since he was just 4-years-old. A chance to be an Olympian. That dream became a reality when he qualified for a spot on Team USA for the Paris Olympics at just 17 years old.
"I really do love it and I do realize how much of an opportunity and a platform this is for life and to do something that I am really passionate about. It's the culmination of everything that I have worked for for the last three years. Like it has been my full-time job,” Watson said.
The now 18-year-old sport climber, in the discipline of speed, is excited to be a part of one of the fastest sports in the Olympics.
It’s a climb that’s about the length of one and a half school buses at 15 meters on a five-degree tilt.
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Watson is the reigning world record holder, getting up that wall in under five seconds. He beat the record twice at a recent competition in China.
Watson trains inside at Movement Plano, a specialty, rock climbing facility. In Paris, sport climbing will happen outside during a steamy, Paris summer. Watson said he is ready.
"It’s not a huge deal. Sometimes there are variable conditions like sometimes it's hotter or sometimes it's colder. It’s really just the training and mentally not being thrown off,” Watson said.
He said the mental conditioning can sometimes be as hard as the mental conditioning. His efforts are constant on and off the climbing wall. He said he must get 10 hours of sleep and stay on a strict diet to continue to perform at peak performance. It’s just part of his story, proving that his race to the top has not come without sacrifice. Through it all, he credits his family support for helping him get to this point.
"You do have to give up a lot to get to that level. I don’t think that any athlete who has gotten to this level will say, yea my life is completely normal. It is a tremendous honor to represent Team USA and try to be my best self for my country. I would rather be doing this than anything else,” Watson said.
Stay with NBC 5 for more stories of North Texas Hometown Hopefuls ahead of the Paris Olympics that start July 26 on NBC 5.
