"Rock Climbing Prodigy" Emerges! Aiming for Double Gold at Asian Games

[Anchor]

Sport climbing is an event where both the South Korean men's and women's national teams are eyeing gold medals at the Asian Games opening next month. Lee Do-hyun, last year's World Championships winner, is taking on the challenge of winning two gold medals.

Reporter Seo Dae-won has the story.

[Reporter]

Twenty-three-year-old Lee Do-hyun won the lead event at the Sport Climbing World Championships held in Seoul in September of last year, becoming the first South Korean male athlete to conquer a world championship. He also claimed a bronze medal in the boulder event, stepping onto the podium back-to-back.

[Lee Do-hyun / 23 years old, National Sport Climbing Team Athlete: It was something I had only ever imagined, and I think it gave me the motivation to work even harder.]

While "lead," which requires climbing as high as possible within a time limit, and "boulder," which involves completing given problems, require very different athletic abilities and techniques even within the same climbing discipline, athletes who excel at both are rare globally. Lee is ranked 2nd in the world in boulder and 3rd in lead, making him the only male athlete ranked in the top five globally in both events.

Lee won a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago under a format that combined lead and boulder scores. This time, he stands as a strong favorite to win both events, which are now separated.

He is in the final stages of rigorous training with the goal of becoming the first South Korean sport climber to win two gold medals at a single Asian Games.

[Lee Do-hyun / 23 years old, National Sport Climbing Team Athlete: I am confident in both events, and I love both events. I will prepare so that I can stand on top of the podium in both.]

Moving beyond the Asian Games, he is powerfully running toward his dream of winning a gold medal at the LA Olympics two years from now.

[Lee Do-hyun / 23 years old, National Sport Climbing Team Athlete: I will work even harder to show great performances at the Asian Games and the Olympics two years from now. Fighting!]

(Video by Hwang In-seok | Video Editing by Park Jung-sam | Graphics by Park Hye-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.