Seo Chae-hyun wins gold medal in women's sports climbing at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Hyeon-gu = Seo Chae-hyun (Seoul City Hall, The North Face), a symbol of Korean sport climbing, presented her country with its first gold medal in 8 years at the Asian Games.

Seo Chae-hyun was the only player to receive TOP in the women's lead final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Port Messe Exhibition Hall in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 3rd, beating her rival Ai Mori (Japan, 47+) to win the gold medal.

Seo Chae-hyun is the second Korean athlete to win a gold medal in spot climbing since Chun Jong-won, who won the combined event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

Lead is a competition to see who can climb the highest on a 15m high artificial rock wall within a time limit (6 minutes). It focuses on endurance and efficient distribution of power through 'route finding', which involves understanding the course in advance.

TOP means that you have completed the climb to the last hold.

Chae-Hyeon Seo, who won a silver medal in the combined event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and a bronze medal in bouldering at this competition, finally reached the top of Asia by winning a gold medal in her main event, lead.

Seo Chae-hyun, who received the TOP score along with Mori in the semifinals and advanced to the finals tied for first place, appeared last among the eight players and accumulated points one by one, quickly beating out seven players and winning the gold medal with a perfect score.

Seo Chae-hyun, who turns 23 next month, naturally took up climbing at the age of 7 under the influence of her father, director Seo Jong-guk, who climbed a rock wall, and her mother.

He quickly emerged as Korea's leading athlete by winning the lead category at the 2021 Moscow World Championships, and later solidified his position as a world-class athlete by adding two bronze medals at the World Championships.

Kim Chae-young (Jeonju Rock Oreum) received 38+ and ranked 4th. He was slightly behind Zhang Xuetong (China, 39+), who won the bronze medal.

If Kim Chae-young received a score of 38+, meaning she made a valid move to grab hold number 38 and hold number 39, Zhang Xuetong received a higher score because she grabbed hold number 39.