ABOVE VIDEO: American climber Sam Watson smashed the world record he set just two days earlier during the small final race in the men's speed climbing final. Watson's 4.74-second run rewarded him with an Olympic bronze medal. Can't see the above video? Click here. He was the fastest in his event and set a world record in the process. But it was only enough for a bronze medal, creating a bit of an Olympic conundrum.American climber Sam Watson, 18, smashed the world record he set just two days earlier during the men's speed climbing final. Watson's 4.74-second run Thursday rewarded him with an Olympic bronze medal.So why not the gold?In speed climbing, athletes scale a 49-foot wall, using foot and hand holds to get to the top as fast as humanly possible. But medals are determined by head-to-head races, not overall times. In his semifinal heat earlier Thursday, Watson slipped, finishing in 4.93 seconds. He was bested in that heat by China's Peng Wu, who finished in 4.85 to advance to the finals. Peng Wu took silver in the finals, with Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo taking the gold. Leonardo recorded a time of 4.75 -- that's 0.01 slower than Watson's world record -- and Peng Wu posted 4.77 seconds.