Indonesia's Rock Climbing Ambition to Reclaim World Record Throne in 2025

The parking lot became one of the busiest places at Hotel Santika Premiere, Kota Harapan Indah, Bekasi, West Java, on that mid-February afternoon. It was there that the climbing walls stood. It was also there, on the wall with four lanes, that the athletes competed to accelerate their speed.

Since the beginning of the year, the Indonesian rock climbing team has started training intensively again. They seem to not want to get carried away by the euphoria of 2024. Last year, it could be said to be theirs because they achieved a series of achievements, including the peak of achievement at the 2024 Paris Olympics with the men's speed gold medal from Veddriq Leonardo.

Of course, I am not content to stop after the last Olympics; there are still several other major events awaiting, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Veddriq has also started 2025 with another achievement. The climber from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, was selected as the Athlete of the Year 2024 in the 2024 The World Games Award. He did not expect to receive this award initiated by The International World Games Association.

According to Veddriq, he thought he could win the award because it was determined through online voting. He believed in the power of Indonesian netizens' fingers. On the other hand, there was still a sense of disbelief as he became the first Indonesian athlete to receive the award.

Regardless of that, Veddriq is pleased to have started the year with an achievement. “Of course, I do not want to be easily satisfied after the last Olympics; there are still several other major events awaiting, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Therefore, this year I aim to maintain performance and consistency in every appearance,” said Veddriq.

Veddriq, the first person to climb in under 5 seconds, is determined to reclaim the throne as the world record holder. The current world record is held by an American climber, Samuel Watson, with a time of 4.74 seconds. He broke the record at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

In fact, on the same stage, Veddriq also broke a world record. Veddriq matched Watson's time of 4.79 seconds, which was broken at the World Climbing Cup in Wujiang, China, four months before the Olympics.

However, Watson improved his time twice to cement his position as the world record holder. After recording a 4.75 in the elimination round, Watson improved it to a 4.74 in the small final or third-place match.

"I want a sharper, smaller time record. If possible, break the record again, that's the target, especially since I used to hold the world record. So, the hope is to achieve that achievement again, in addition to maintaining the achievement at the Olympics," said Veddriq.

Similar hopes were conveyed by another male climber in the speed discipline, Kiromal Katibin. In fact, Kiromal conveyed his specific target, which was to record a time of 4.6 seconds. If that could be achieved, medals would usually follow.

For Kiromal, it is not too ambitious a target. Moreover, Kiromal has experience breaking world records before.

Kiromal is an Indonesian male climber who started the history of world record breaking by surpassing the time of Iranian climber, Reza Alipour (5.48 seconds) which was recorded at the 2017 World Cup series in Nanjing, China. He broke Alipour's world record with a time of 5.25 seconds at the 2021 World Cup series in Salt Lake City, United States, May 28, 2021.

The record was broken in the same event by Veddriq with 5.20 seconds. In 2022, Kiromal broke the world record again and sharpened it up to four times in several World Cup series.

Kiromal became the first climber to climb in 5 seconds at the 2022 Chamonix World Cup, France. The record was broken a year later by Veddriq at the Seoul World Cup with 4.98 seconds.

Kiromal's name then "disappeared" from the list of world record holders throughout 2023 and 2024. Only Veddriq and Watson took turns being the fastest humans on the climbing wall. So, it is natural that Kiromal's desire to break the world record again is so great, as big as his desire to appear at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Unlike Veddriq, Kiromal failed to make it to Paris after failing to compete in qualifying events. He wants to “make up” for that with thorough preparation starting this year.

Indonesian rock climbing team coach Hendra Basir said that breaking the world record is indeed the main target this year, especially in the men's speed sector. The experience of breaking the previous world record is a valuable provision to meet the target.

Meanwhile, for female speed climbers, the target is stable performance and time records in every event. That way, achievements will also be inevitable.

Despite failing to bring home a medal at the Olympics, the women's sector has been able to show a revival since then. Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, for example, shone at the IFSC 4 Speed Madrid, Spain after a dramatic defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Desak won the gold medal in the individual speed four-lane event. He also won the same medal when competing in the team event with Rajiah Sallsabillah.

"Last year's results, especially the Olympics, I try to forget, now looking at new targets. This new target makes the spirit burn again," said Desak.

"The first target is obviously to appear and be on the podium at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, then at the 2026 Asian Games, and break the record. The closest target means breaking the record, hopefully I can record 5.9 seconds," added the athlete from Bali.

The current women's speed world record is held by Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw at 6.06. Desak is not only determined to beat Miroslaw's time, but also to become the first female climber to dip below 6 seconds.

Time records are also a target for Rajiah Sallbillah. In Paris, Billah failed to bring home a medal. However, she became the Indonesian female climber who went the furthest by reaching the semifinals.

Not only that, Billah also repeatedly sharpened his personal time record to 6.58 seconds, 6.54 seconds, and 6.41 seconds. A month later, Billah sharpened it again at PON to reach 0.19 seconds to 6.22 seconds.

Billah hopes that the time record can also be achieved in international events. "The target is to match or even exceed the time record," he said.

On the towering wall in the parking lot, these athletes are not just climbers, but conquerors of time—challenging each second with unwavering determination. In every step and grip of a hand on a handhold, there is an unquenchable fire of passion toward one goal: to be the fastest, once again.