▲ South Korea's Seo Chae-hyun struggles on the fourth problem during the women's bouldering final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Nagoya International Exhibition Hall in Japan on the 1st.
South Korean women's sport climbing star Seo Chae-hyun (Seoul City Hall / The North Face) has claimed an Asian Games medal for the second consecutive tournament.
Seo finished third with 70 points in the women's bouldering final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Nagoya International Exhibition Hall in Japan today (the 1st), capturing the bronze medal.
In the preceding semifinals, Seo put on an incredible "flash" performance by completing all four problems on her very first attempt, topping the leaderboard with a maximum score of 100 points (25 points per problem), but slipped to third place in the final.
Although she tied with Luo Zhilu of China in final points, Seo dramatically clinched the bronze medal due to competition regulations comparing previous round performances, having ranked first in the semifinals.
This is a valuable achievement despite bouldering not being her primary event.
Seo, currently ranked second in the world in lead climbing, sits at 22nd in bouldering.
At the previous 2022 Hangzhou Games, Seo competed in the combined event (bouldering and lead), where she won a silver medal based on her preliminary and semifinal results after the finals were abruptly canceled due to heavy rain.
While her pursuit of a first-ever Asian Games gold medal has been postponed to the next opportunity, her consecutive podium finishes once again prove her status as a top-tier athlete in Asia.
Bouldering is an event where climbers scale various artificial structures on an approximately 4 to 5-meter wall without safety equipment such as ropes.
Up until the Hangzhou Games, the sport used a combined format that aggregated scores with the lead event, but starting from the Nagoya Games, the two events have been separated, offering standalone medals for the first time.
On this day, Seo completed the first and second problems on her very first try without a single failure, quickly accumulating 50 points.
On the third problem, while competitors Zhang Yuetong (China) and Ai Mori (Japan) succeeded in topping the route, Seo failed to grab the final hold (top) and only secured the zone hold, which awards partial points, adding just 10 points.
The destination of the medals was sealed on the final fourth problem.
Stepping up as the very last competitor among the eight finalists, Seo had to settle for securing the zone hold on the final problem as well.
Ultimately failing to top the route, Seo lagged behind Zhang Yuetong and Mori in cumulative points, finishing in third place.
Zhang successfully topped three problems to score 85 points, while Mori recorded 84.8 points after suffering two falls on the third problem.
Having secured a precious bronze medal in bouldering, Seo will regroup and prepare to compete in her signature event, the lead competition, on the 3rd in pursuit of her long-awaited first gold medal.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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