Top female climber eyes Tokyo Olympics

By Kang Seung-woo

Even for professional climber Kim Ja-in, who has a decorated career, it had been a headache to worry about costs for training herself and participating in competitions.

Starting in 2018, however, the 29-year-old athlete will be better able to focus on competitions, and furthermore the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where sport climbing will make its Olympic debut, as she has signed a sponsorship deal with global tech giant LG Electronics.

At the end of last year, Kim and LG reached the three-year deal, meaning the latter will help the climber fulfill her Olympic dream.

Kim is one of the leading climbers in the sport, winning 26 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Lead World Cups, the most among female climbers.

“It is a good thing a major company that has little to do with this sport sponsors me,” Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times, describing the deal as “unprecedented.”

“Although sport climbing has made it to the Olympics, the Korean Alpine Federation’s (KAF) financial support for athletes has not changed much and most of them have to take care of themselves in terms of training and competition. The LG sponsorship deal can help me ease such a burden.”

In 2017, Kim was a brand ambassador for U.S. apparel company Spyder and energy drink Red Bull, with the latter‘s sponsorship expiring last year.

According to the agreement, LG will also fund the KAF for the same period and Kim expects it to contribute to enhancing other climbers’ capabilities, as well.

“Compared with other sport climbing powerhouses such as Japan and European countries, Korea does not have a deep pool of athletes. Plus, there is little federation-level support system for national athletes, while other countries have beefed up their systems,” Kim said.

“In that respect, the LG sponsorship deal is expected to lead the federation to offer better support for other climbers.”

Choi Sang-gyu, president of LG’s domestic sales and marketing operation, said, “LG plans to give full support for Kim and other climbers to train hard and provide solid performances in competitions.”

Kim finished the 2017 season, sitting second in the world rankings behind Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret. She won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals in seven World Cup series. In November, she was named the nation’s top female athlete of the year.

With three years to go until the Tokyo Games, Kim has already set her sights on competing on the Olympic stage.

“Competing at the Olympic Games is like a dream comes true for any athlete,” she said.

“Rather than only eyeing the gold medal, qualifying for the Olympics and doing all I can do there are my current goals.”

In 2020, she will turn 31 -- an age that some critics might say her best days may be in the past.

However, Kim said she still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

“Last season, I felt much better than before physically and did not see my climbing capability diminish at all,” she said.

“If I take care of injuries and recover, there would not be anything special to worry about.”