Kim Ja-in (Korean김자인, born 11 September 1988), more widely known in the Western world as Jain Kim, is a professional climber who specializes in competition climbing. She is mainly active in competition lead climbing and competition bouldering. She has won the Lead Climbing World Cup three times (2010, 2013, 2014), the Lead Climbing World Championship once (2014), and the Rock Master once (2010, Lead discipline). She has won the Asian Championships 14 times in 15 years, 11 times in lead climbing and 3 times in bouldering (see below for details).

Jain Kim
Kim in Vienna, 2010
Personal information
Born (1988-09-11) 11 September 1988 (age 35)
Goyang, South Korea
Height153 cm (5 ft 0 in)
Weight42 kg (93 lb)
SpouseOh Young-hwan
Websitejainkim.kr
Climbing career
Type of climber
Highest grade
Known forWinning 3 World Cups, 1 World Championship and 14 Asian Championships.
Medal record
Women's competition climbing
Representing  South Korea
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Cups 31 14 17
World Championships 2 3 1
Asian Championships 14 3 3
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Paris Combined
Gold medal – first place 2014 Gijón Lead
Silver medal – second place 2009 Xining Lead
Silver medal – second place 2011 Arco Lead
Silver medal – second place 2012 Paris Lead
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Innsbruck Lead
World Cup
Second place 2009 Lead
Winner 2010 Lead
Winner 2010 Combined
Second place 2011 Lead
Second place 2012 Lead
Winner 2013 Lead
Winner 2014 Lead
Second place 2015 Lead
Winner 2015 Combined
Third place 2016 Lead
Second place 2017 Lead
Second place 2017 Combined
Third place 2018 Lead
World Games
Silver medal – second place 2009 Lead
Silver medal – second place 2013 Lead
Updated on May 4, 2019.

Jain Kim has also completed notable ascents outdoors. In 2014, she redpointed her first routes graded beyond the 8b+ (5.14a) grade, including Bibita Biologica 8c (5.14b) and Reini's Vibes 8c+ (5.14c), both in Arco, Italy.

Biography edit

 
Kim in the Bouldering World Cup, Vienna, 2010

Born into a family of mountaineers and climbers,[1] Kim started climbing at age 12. In July 2004, at age 15, she started competing in the Lead Climbing World Cup and since 2006, she has also participated in the Bouldering World Cup.[citation needed]

She won the Lead Climbing Asian Championship in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2008, she also won the Bouldering Asian Championship. In 2009, she ranked second in the Lead Climbing World Cup,[2] second in the Lead Climbing World Championship,[3] second in the World Games (Lead), and third in the Rock Master (Lead).[4]

In 2010, she won the lead climbing competitions both in the Rock Master[5] and the World Cup.[6] She obtained the World Cup overall title by ranking first in five of the six stages, namely those held in Xining, Chuncheon, Puurs, Huaiji, and Kranj. The only World Cup stage that Jain Kim did not win in 2010 was the first one, held in Chamonix. She won the Lead Climbing World Cup again in 2013 and 2014, each time winning four of the eight events.

In May and June 2014, she redpointed her first routes in rock climbing graded 8b+, namely Bibita Biologica (8c) and Reini's Vibes (8c/8c+), both in Arco, Italy.

On September 14, 2014, three days after she had turned 26, she achieved an extraordinary victory at the Lead Climbing World Championships, where she managed to ascend (on-sight) all of the routes attempted in the qualifications, the semifinals, and the finals.

On May 20, 2017, she climbed the 555-meter Lotte World Tower in Seoul.[7]

Upon winning the gold Lead World Cup in Chamonix on July 9, 2023, Kim became the oldest woman to win a Lead World Cup at 34 years old.[8]

Personal life edit

She is married to Oh Young-hwan, a member of the 21st National Assembly of Korea, who was a firefighter of Seoul Fire Services and writer.[9] On March 10, 2021, Kim gave birth to a daughter.[10]

Rankings edit

Climbing World Cup edit

Discipline[11] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2023
Lead 25 18 28 14 18 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 2 3 8
Bouldering 36 51 5 12 7 10 29 18 48 35 51
Speed 30 75
Combined 21 25 2 1 2 2 4 1 2 8 8

Climbing World Championships edit

Youth[12]

Discipline 2005
Youth A
Lead 22

Adult[12]

Discipline 2005 2007 2009 2011 2012 2014 2016 2018 2019
Lead 32 8 2 2 2 1 4 3 22
Bouldering 12 45 17 11 5 41 25
Speed 41 54 59
Combined 1 40

World Games edit

Discipline 2005 2009 2013 2017
Lead 5 2 2 4

Rock Master edit

Discipline 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Lead 3 1 2
Duel 5 3

Asian Championships edit

Discipline[12] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2022
Lead 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 3
Bouldering 2 1 1 2 2 1 3

World Cup podiums edit

Lead edit

Last updated July 9, 2023.

Season[12] Gold Silver Bronze Total
2007 1 1
2008 0
2009 1 2 3
2010 5 5
2011 5 1 1 7
2012 3 2 1 6
2013 4 2 1 7
2014 4 2 6
2015 3 3
2016 1 4 5
2017 1 3 2 6
2018 2 2 4
2019 1 1 2
2023 1 1
Total 30 13 13 56

Bouldering edit

Season[12] Gold Silver Bronze Total
2009 1 1
2010 2 2
2011 1 1 2
2012 1 1
Total 1 1 4 6

Television edit

Year Program Original title Network Role Note Ref.
2015 Running Man 런닝맨 SBS Guest Episode 268 [13]
2021 Sporty Sisters 2 노는언니2 E Channel Member [14]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Auriana Beaute. "Jain Kim's Profile". Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  2. ^ planetmountain.com, ed. (16 November 2009). "Lead World Cup 2009 to Johanna Ernst and Adam Ondra". Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  3. ^ Vinicio Stefanello (7 July 2009). planetmountain.com (ed.). "Climbing World Championships - Qinghai (CHN)". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  4. ^ Vinicio Stefanello (6 September 2009). planetmountain.com (ed.). "Eiter and Puigblanque are the kings of Rock Master 2009". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  5. ^ planetmountain.com, ed. (19 July 2010). "Rock Master 2010". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  6. ^ up-climbing.com, ed. (30 October 2010). "Jain Kim Wins the World Cup 2010". Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  7. ^ "S. Korean female climber reaches top of tallest building". yonhapnews.co.kr. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  8. ^ gripped (2023-07-10). "Jain Kim Becomes Oldest Woman to Win Gold". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  9. ^ wedding invitation sent from Oh Younghwan(GLAD Hotel, 15:00, 12 December 2015). Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Jain Kim gave birth to a daughter". Archived from the original on 2021-12-25.
  11. ^ IFSC, ed. (August 20, 2019). "World Cup Rankings". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e IFSC, ed. (August 20, 2019). "Kim's profile and rankings". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  13. ^ Kim, Jennifer (2015-10-17). "'Running Man' Kim Ja In Picks Haha". KDramaStars. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  14. ^ "노는언니2". www.imtcast.com. Retrieved 2021-10-08.

External links edit