[Nagoya AG] Seo Chaehyun Finally Strikes Gold in Her Main Lead Event... Secures 3rd Asian Games Medal After Silver and Bronze

Seo Chaehyun, the leading figure in Korean sport climbing, has adorned her third Asian Games medal with gold. After winning a silver medal in the combined event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and a bronze medal in bouldering at this tournament, Seo finally claimed gold in her main discipline, lead climbing.

On the 3rd, at the Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall No. 1 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, during the women's lead final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games sport climbing event, Seo achieved the only “TOP” among all competitors, overtaking her rival Mori Ai (Japan·47+), and secured the gold medal.

Seo Chaehyun is smiling brightly after securing the gold medal by being the only athlete to successfully complete the route in the women's lead final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games sports climbing event held at the Nagoya International Exhibition Hall in Japan on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

This marks only the second time that Korean sport climbing has won a gold medal at the Asian Games; the previous occasion was eight years ago when Chon Jongwon took the gold in the men's combined event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

Lead climbing is a discipline in which competitors race to climb as high as possible on a 15-meter artificial wall within a 6-minute time limit. “TOP” means successfully completing the route to the very last hold.

In the semifinals, Seo and Mori both recorded a “TOP” and advanced to the final as joint first-place qualifiers. In the final as well, Seo demonstrated a flawless ascent. Climbing last among the eight finalists, she was the only one to reach the top of the wall, securing her gold medal.

Kim Chaeyoung, who also participated, finished in fourth place with 38+, narrowly missing out on the podium as she was edged out by China’s Zhang Yuetong (39+), the bronze medalist.

Seo Chaehyun once again stood on the podium alongside Zhang Yuetong and Mori. These three athletes have all won medals together in both the bouldering event this tournament and the combined event at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

In this tournament’s bouldering event, Zhang Yuetong won gold, Mori took silver, and Seo finished with bronze. In the combined event at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, Mori won gold, Seo silver, and Zhang bronze.

At the 2022 Hangzhou Games, the combined event determined rankings by adding results from both bouldering and lead climbing. At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games, however, bouldering and lead climbing are held as separate events, with individual medals awarded for each.

Bouldering is a discipline in which athletes compete to complete several short, highly challenging problems on relatively low artificial walls without ropes, aiming to do so in as few attempts as possible.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.