Seo Chae-hyun wins gold in lead climbing in IFSC Championship

Seo Chae-hyun of Korea has won the gold medal for lead climbing in the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Championship. 　

The 18-year-old won the final round for women’s championship held in Moscow on Wednesday, outpacing Natalia Grossman of the U.S. and Laura Rogora of Italy who both achieved more than 37 holds. In lead climbing, athletes compete to see who can reach the farthest of the slope in a certain amount of time. 　

Seo claimed her first gold medal in a world championship competition. She is the first female Korean to win the lead competition after Kim Ja-in in 2014.

The South Korean entered the quarterfinals at a tied first place in the preliminary round where 27 players competed in. She finished all the climbs and joined the semifinals where eight players were elected. In the final round, she was the only player to finish all the climbs and topped the list. 　

Seo did not enter the semifinals in bouldering (where the player who achieves the most variable routes by the fewest number of attempts) in which she finished at a tied 37th place in the preliminary round. She did not compete for the speed competition (where two players compete to see who climbs the 15-meter-high wall the fastest). 　

“After an incredible climb that proved her the only woman to top the lead route, Tokyo 2020 Olympian Seo Chae-hyun is your new women's lead climbing world champion!” the International Olympic Committee said on Twitter.

“I am so happy that my first medal from the World Championship is a gold, even more glad that I finished all climbs from the preliminary rounds to the final round,” Seo said after the competition.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com