Seo Chae-hyun wins Asian Games sport climbing lead gold in Nagoya

Seo Chae-hyun won the women's lead gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Oct 3, producing the only top among the eight finalists at the Nagoya venue. Japan's Mori Ai, who had shared first place with Seo in the previous day's semifinal, finished second with 47+, while China's Zhang Yuetong took bronze with 39+, according to Asia Economy and Hankook Ilbo. [ 3 , 4 ]

Seo, listed as 22 years old by Yonhap and 23 by Hankook Ilbo, climbed last of the eight finalists and completed the route. Kim Chae-young, the other Korean in the final, finished fourth with 38+, just behind the podium. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]

It was Korea's second Asian Games gold in sport climbing and its first by a woman, eight years after Cheon Jong-won won the men's combined at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. Hankook Ilbo said the gold was Korea's 38th of these Games. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ]

Lead is contested on a 15-metre wall under a six-minute limit, ranked by the highest hold a climber reaches; a “top” means completing the climb to the final hold. At these Games bouldering and lead are separate medal events, whereas the Hangzhou 2022 combined event added the two together. The same three climbers shared the podium in bouldering here — Zhang gold, Mori silver, Seo bronze — and at Hangzhou, where Mori took gold, Seo silver and Zhang bronze. [ 3 ]

At a press conference at the Korea House in Nagoya on Oct 4, Seo said, according to Yonhap: “Recently I lost to Mori Ai more often than I beat her, so I thought it would not be easy, but after competing here I felt there is no opponent I cannot beat.” She said she is now aiming for an Olympic medal, noting that at the 2028 Los Angeles Games bouldering, lead and speed will each be separate events, which she expects to raise her chances in lead. Korea has no Olympic medal in sport climbing, and Seo finished eighth at Tokyo 2020 and sixth at Paris 2024 after reaching both finals. [ 5 , 7 ]

Yonhap reported that Seo injured a thumb while preparing and taped it until warm-ups during the Games, saying competing injured was not easy psychologically and that four days of competition had been mentally and physically tiring. She also said she had quickly put behind her the disappointment of Hangzhou, where the final was cancelled because of heavy rain and she took silver. National team coach Park Hee-yong, who appeared with her, pointed to the United States' growth and Europe's strength but said the split events at Los Angeles should suit Korea and that winning a medal there was a goal the team would treat as its mission. [ 5 ]

Hankook Ilbo also reported that Lee Do-hyun took bronze in the men's lead final, finishing third of nine with the 38th hold, his second medal of these Games after bouldering silver and his third at an Asian Games including the Hangzhou 2022 combined silver. [ 4 ]