On April 28, in the men's speed-climbing preliminaries at the 6th Asian Beach Games, Shanghai's own Zhao Yicheng clocked 4.58 seconds, shattering the world record of 4.64 seconds previously set by American climber Sam Watson.

He is the first athlete in the world to break the 4.60-second barrier in speed climbing — a feat on par with humanity's sub-two-hour marathon.

In truth, the 16-year-old had long established a commanding presence on the wall.

Born in June 2009, Zhao was jointly recruited and developed in 2023 by the Shanghai Mountaineering Association and Fengxian District, with speed climbing as his training discipline.

In 2023, he won the men's speed title in the U16 category at the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships and took gold in the men's speed event at the 1st National Student (Youth) Games climbing competition.

In 2024, he defended his U16 world youth title while also capturing the men's speed crown at the 31st National Climbing Championships and the season's overall men's speed title in the China Climbing League.

At the national climbing squad selection trials in March 2025, Zhao posted back-to-back runs of 4.68 and 4.65 seconds, twice bettering the world record of 4.74 seconds standing at the time.

That same year, he claimed the U17 men's speed title at the IFSC World Climbing Youth Championships, the 32nd National Climbing Championships, the men's speed crown at the 3rd National Climbing Grand Prix, the National Youth Climbing Open cum national junior squad selection trials, the China Climbing League's Keqiao (Shaoxing, Zhejiang) leg, the runner-up spot at the Climbing Asian Youth Championships, and the men's speed gold at the 15th National Games.