PARIS — Seo Chae-hyun, a medal hopeful from South Korea, finished sixth in the women’s combined sport climbing event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday. Despite strong performances in lead climbing, Seo was unable to recover from an early setback in the bouldering round, ultimately affecting her podium chances.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Seo concluded the event with 105.0 points, trailing the bronze medal winner by 42.4 points. She scored 76.1 points in the lead discipline after a challenging bouldering session where she accumulated only 28.9 points. Seo, who had narrowly qualified for the final, showed her prowess in lead climbing but could not offset her earlier scores.
The event took place at the Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue, north of Paris. Seo, making her second Olympic appearance after the sport's debut in Tokyo 2021, faced difficulties particularly in the bouldering session, failing to top any of the routes. This was evident as she was the only finalist not to scale at least one route, scoring highest on her fourth boulder with 9.8 points.
In the lead event, climbers had one attempt to climb as high as possible within six minutes on a 15-meter wall. Seo was the first to tackle the wall in the final round, setting a solid score early on. Despite her efforts, the gap from the bouldering phase was too significant to close.
Seo expressed a mix of relief and satisfaction following her performance. "I think I could have done better in bouldering, but overall, I enjoyed this competition," she stated. Seo also commented on the separation of the speed discipline in this year's Olympics, noting it allowed athletes to focus more on technique and creativity in bouldering and lead climbing.
Looking ahead, Seo remains optimistic about her future prospects, particularly with the potential separation of bouldering and lead climbing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which could enhance her medal chances. At age 20, Seo is approaching the peak years for climbers and is already setting her sights on the next Olympic Games.