World Climbing Series Wujiang

The season's first speed stop delivered the fastest qualification round of all time, now commonplace for the sport's breakneck development. Not even a sub-five time could guarantee a place in the bracket of 16.

The marquee draw was the first in-competition meeting of Chinese phenom Zhao Yicheng赵一程Zhào Yīchéng and American incumbent record holder Samuel Watson. Zhao had already run 4.67 and 4.65 in Chinese selection, with reaction times suggesting he had the 4.5 range in him, then broke the world record at the Asian Beach Games in Sanya in only his second recorded run.

Both qualified behind reigning world champion Long Jianguo龙见国Lóng Jiànguó and were paired in the semi-final. Zhao held absolute composure and won it in 4.546, taking his own world record down again. The detail that mattered was his reaction time of 0.17, which puts the 4.4 range within reach.

Watson took it with a joke: "In a straight race, he wins, fortunately the speed wall is jagged." Zhao was blunter, telling Xinhua that Watson had never competed well in China, that he himself was carrying less baggage, and that the race turned on one move. "It was the move from hold 10 to hold 11 where I passed him. So on that one move, I feel the detail in my movement was just better than his."

That move, the paddle-like sequence the field has started calling the Zhao dyno, became the story of the summer. Watson committed publicly to learning it. Long Jianguo took silver, Watson bronze, and despite eight starts on Chinese soil the gold medal in the mainland still eludes America's Spider-Man.