Up for the challenge

China's "Spider-Man" shares his passion for speed climbing and the pursuit of even greater heights, Chen Xue reports.

How fast can someone climb 15 meters — the height of a 5-story building? The answer is: within 5 seconds.

Before May this year, only two people in the world — Kiromal Katibin and Veddriq Leonardo, both Indonesian athletes — were able to complete the speed climbing route — a 15-meter-high artificial wall with foot and hand holds — within 5 seconds in official events. But on May 30, Chinese speed climber Cao Long hit the finish pad at 4.98 seconds in the semifinal of the first National Rock Climbing Championship, held in Keqiao, Zhejiang province. Cao became the third-fastest person in the world — vertically speaking.

But Cao himself doesn't care too much about the new nicknames given to him, such as "fastest man in China" or "Chinese Spider-Man".

"All of my teammates have the ability to do it, too. I just happened to have a bit more luck at that time," said the 23-year-old athlete of the China National Climbing Team and a senior student at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan).

According to Cao, the outcome of speed climbing can vary every time because it's a highly demanding and stressful sport. Unlike the other two climbing disciplines — lead climbing and bouldering, in which athletes take turns climbing the same routes — speed climbing is a competitive race where two climbers compete at the same time. It's also a sport that finishes in seconds, meaning that to succeed, everything has to be perfect — athletes should have the right amount of focus, confidence and courage to take risks. Any slipups could be disastrous in a sport where there are only milliseconds between victory and defeat.

"Keeping a level head is key. Everyone wants to win. But the more you want it, the more likely you'll mess up," said Cao. "But being too calm and trying to avoid any mistakes won't do you any good either because that mindset takes away your edge and your willingness to fight."

Cao noted, "You just have to find the right balance."

But this psychological pressure involved with speed climbing is, in fact, part of the reason why Cao loves the sport. "The tension of competing side by side with another climber really excites me," he said. "And I do enjoy the thrill when the outcome of a climb — be it during daily training or in an official competition — exceeds my personal best."

In fact, Cao's encounter with climbing was quite coincidental. At the age of 8, Cao was taking a taekwondo class when he noticed a climbing gym downstairs. He convinced his parents to let him have a try. Later, when the time came that he had to choose between the two, he picked climbing as it was more challenging in his eyes.