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23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Olympic Speed Climbing Champion Sam Watson to Visit Mumbai

Mumbai: When Sam Watson sprints up a 15-metre wall, the world seems to slow down. The 19-year-old American speed climber, an Olympic medallist from Paris 2024 and current world-record holder at 4.64 seconds, has become the face of one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. On November 2, he will trade competition arenas for Mumbai’s High Rock in Powai, offering a rare day of workshops and conversations with India’s burgeoning community of climbers. Speed climbing, once a fringe pursuit of...

Olympic Speed Climbing Champion Sam Watson to Visit Mumbai

Mumbai: When Sam Watson sprints up a 15-metre wall, the world seems to slow down. The 19-year-old American speed climber, an Olympic medallist from Paris 2024 and current world-record holder at 4.64 seconds, has become the face of one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. On November 2, he will trade competition arenas for Mumbai’s High Rock in Powai, offering a rare day of workshops and conversations with India’s burgeoning community of climbers. Speed climbing, once a fringe pursuit of mountaineers, now stands as one of the Olympics’ most electrifying disciplines. The sport demands not just power and agility but precision measured in hundredths of a second. Watson, often hailed as the greatest speed climber of all time, has repeatedly rewritten the record books. His visit marks a milestone for India’s fledgling climbing scene. High Rock, the city’s first commercial climbing facility, opened its walls in December 2024 and has since drawn more than 10,000 enthusiasts. It represents the country’s growing fascination with vertical sports and a reflection of a global shift toward adventure and athleticism fused with technology and training science. During his visit, Sam Watson will conduct Masterclasses for both Kids and Adults, offering a rare opportunity for amateur climbers to learn directly from a global champion and experience his unmatched energy and technique up close. Watson will be joined by Matt Groom, the Official Lead Commentator for the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). Known as the voice of IFSC World Cups and World Championships, Groom will host a 30-minute talk at High Rock on ‘The Evolution of Climbing in Competitive Sport.’ His insights promise to provide a deep look into the transformation of climbing from niche adventure to Olympic spectacle. Event: Sam Watson, Olympic Medalist and current World Record holder at High Rock Date: November 2, 2025 Location: High Rock, Powai, Mumbai

Reigning in Kolhapur

Kolhapur

Kolhapur has, for long, been a hub for education, culture, agriculture, temples and business. But the city has been equally renowned for the royal family that has ruled the region for centuries. The family traces its roots to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Kolhapur and Satara being the two seats that were descendants of the warrior king who enjoys a demi-god status across the state.


Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj II or Shahu II stepped out of the palace walls to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket and won the seat by a huge margin, reaffirming the affection that the electorate has for the royal family. Shahu II is the 12th generation of Maharashtra’s greatest warrior king and the great grandson of Rajashri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the visionary king who is credited with widespread social reform in the region. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, he advocated equality in caste and gender and promoted education and supported trade and agriculture. He had built dams and sanctuaries. The goodwill that the family enjoys is reflected in the way the people of Kolhapur support the present generation that is involved in politics and public life.


Chhatrapati Shahu II had little political experience until these elections while his sons Shambajiraje and Malojiraje have held political positions. Sambhajiraje first entered the Rajya Sabha in 2016 when he was nominated by the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Unable to reach a consensus with the undivided Shiv Sena for a Rajya Sabha nomination in 2022, he formed the Swarajya Sanghathan the same year. He had famously sat on an indefinite hunger strike in 2022 at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, along with his wife Sanyogeetaraje, demanding reservations for the Maratha community. In 2024, while he was keen on contesting the Lok Sabha elections, he withdrew from the fray after the Congress chose his father Shahu Maharaj II as its candidate, a name that was fully backed by the NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray.


His younger son Malojiraje entered the Maharashtra legislative assembly in 2004 as a nominee of the Congress from Kolhapur. After he lost the 2009 elections, he took a backseat from electoral politics but led the party for the Kolhapur municipal corporation elections in 2021. His focus is on social activities and is currently the secretary of the Pune-based All India Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial Society and is a member of the executive committee that runs the All India Football Federation.

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