Veddriq Leonardo struck gold in the inaugural men's speed climbing event on Thursday to give Indonesia their first Olympic title in a sport other than badminton at the Paris Games.

The 27-year-old defeated China's Wu Peng by just two hundredths of a second, scaling the 15-metre wall at the Le Bourget venue in 4.75 seconds.

However American teenager Sam Watson set a new world record in the battle for bronze.

Watson, 18, had lost to Wu in the semi-finals but came back with a spectacular time of 4.74 seconds to finish third.

Watson lowered his own world record for the fourth time this year. Leonardo had been the first man to break the five-second barrier in April 2023.

Integrated into a combination of speed, bouldering and lead in the Tokyo Olympics, speed is a discipline in its own right in Paris for the first time.

For the Paris Games, organisers decided to separate out the speed element, the most spectacular of the climbing disciplines.