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

(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Hyeon-gu = Seo Chae-hyun (Seoul City Hall, North Face), who won the gold medal in the women's lead category in sport climbing at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, did not hide her joy, saying, "I finally did it."

Chae-Hyeon Seo received a toast after beating her rival Ai Mori (Japan) in the final held at the Port Messe Exhibition Hall in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 3rd.

Seo Chae-hyun was the only one among the eight athletes participating in the final to receive the TOP score, which means she completed the climb.

In an interview with the competition organizing committee after the awards ceremony, Seo Chae-hyun recalled a moment when she was frustrated by finishing in second or third place in the end even though she had ranked first in several competitions all the way to the semifinals.

But this competition was different.

In the lead semifinals of the main event, which competes to see who can climb a 15m high artificial rock wall the highest within the time limit (6 minutes), he advanced to the finals with the TOP score along with Mori, and appeared as the last runner in the finals, and finally won his first Asian Games gold medal with a perfect ascent.

Seo Chae-hyun said, “Today, I am most satisfied with doing the climb I wanted to do, rather than winning a gold medal. I am proud of myself for really concentrating, analyzing the route, and climbing the rock wall.”

Leading is a sport that emphasizes endurance and efficient distribution of power through 'route finding', which involves understanding the course in advance. Seo Chae-hyeon's thoughts are that she understood the course well and effectively achieved her goal of completing the climb within the time limit.

Regarding Mori, who failed to complete the climb, Seo Chae-hyeon said, "If Mori had climbed the mountain, I would have been under pressure to complete it faster, but since Mori failed to complete the climb, it became much easier than expected, and I set out with the determination to 'climb well on my own.'"