Seo Chae-hyun wins gold in lead climbing, South Korea's first Asian Games climbing title in 8 years

South Korea's top sport climber Seo Chae-hyun claimed a gold medal at the Asian Games on Saturday.

It is the first gold medal for South Korea in sport climbing at the Asian Games since Cheon Jong-won won the combined event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games — eight years ago — making Seo only the second Korean to achieve the feat.

Seo topped the women's lead final at the Nagoya Port Messe exhibition center in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, completing the route to the final hold and edging out rival Mori Ai of Japan, who finished with a score of 47+, to claim gold at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The lead discipline requires competitors to climb as high as possible on a 15-meter artificial wall within a six-minute time limit. It rewards endurance and "route-finding" — reading the course in advance to distribute strength as efficiently as possible.

A TOP score means the climber reached the final hold to complete the entire route.

Having taken silver in the combined event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and bronze in bouldering earlier at these Games, Seo finally reached the top of the Asian podium in lead climbing, her signature discipline.

Seo had shared the top spot with Mori after both recorded TOP scores in the semifinal, then went on to claim a perfect score in the final to secure the gold.