Seoul to host sport climbing world championships for 1st time

Seo Chae-hyun of Korea competes in the lead event during the women's sport climbing combined final at the Paris Olympics at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Le Bourget, France, Aug. 10, 2024. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

Korea will host the world's premier sport climbing competition for the first time beginning this weekend, with homegrown athletes set to compete for medals in front of partisan crowds.

The 19th edition of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Climbing World Championships will run from Sunday to Sept. 28 at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul, with over 1,000 climbers from some 60 nations in action.

The qualifications for each of lead, speed and boulder events will take place at Haneol Plaza inside the park, and all the finals will be contested at KSPO Dome.

The IFSC held its first world championships in 1991 and Korea won the right to host the 19th edition of the competition during the IFSC General Assembly in Singapore in 2023.

Korea will send 11 female and 11 male climbers to all three disciplines. Among the medal contenders will be Seo Chae-hyun, world No. 1 in the women's lead and the 2021 world lead champion; Lee Do-hyun, world No. 2 in the men's boulder and the 2023 world bronze medalist in boulder; and Jeong Ji-min, ranked third in the world in the women's speed this season with a recent World Cup silver medal to her credit.

"I will try to put on my best performance possible and not make mistakes," Seo said at the national team press conference in August. "I won't worry about other climbers and I will stay focused on completing my climbs."

Veteran climber Kim Ja-in will compete in the lead event. A two-time world champion with 31 World Cup titles, Kim will be the oldest climber in Seoul at 37. Though this may be her last world championship, Kim insisted last month that she wants to keep climbing beyond this event.

"For me, it's not about trying to win a medal. I am just honored to be here as a climber. My primary goal is to reach the final," she said in the August presser. "It won't be easy for me as the oldest athlete here, but I want to inspire younger climbers. It won't be the strangest thing in the world if I retired right away, but this won't be my last competition."

In lead, the objective for climbers is to ascend as high as possible on a route set on a 15-meter wall within six minutes.

Boulder presents a problem-solving mission for climbers. The aim is to complete the most routes in the lowest number of attempts on 4m walls over a given period of time.

In speed competitions, the goal is to be the fastest to the top of a 15m wall.

The championships will begin with lead qualifications on Sunday. The first medals will be awarded Wednesday in the women's speed, followed by the men's speed Thursday.

Lead finals for both men and women will be Friday, while the women's boulder final will be Sept. 27 and the men's boulder final will be Sept. 28.