Seo Chae-hyun (Korean서채현, born November 1, 2003), also known as Chaehyun Seo, is a South Korean professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She won the overall 2019 World Cup title in competition lead climbing in her senior debut season.[2] In August 2021 she represented South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she was a finalist[3] and later that year won the IFSC World Championships in lead.[4]

Seo Chae-hyun
Seo in 2021
Personal information
NationalitySouth Korean
Born (2003-11-01) November 1, 2003 (age 20)
Seoul, South Korea
Height163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
Climbing career
Type of climber
Highest grade
Known forWinning the overall World Cup for lead in her debut season
Medal record
Women's competition climbing
Representing  South Korea
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Moscow Lead
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Bern Lead
World Cup (Season)
Winner 2019 Lead
Second place 2022 Lead
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lead
Gold medal – first place 2019 Bouldering
Gold medal – first place 2022 Lead
Gold medal – first place 2022 Combined
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Bouldering
Updated on April 24, 2024.
Seo Chae-hyun
Hangul
서채현
Revised RomanizationSeo Chae-hyeon
McCune–ReischauerSŏ Ch'ae-hyŏn

Early life edit

Seo was born into a family of climbers. She started climbing in 2008. Her father owns a climbing gym in Seoul.

Climbing career edit

Rock climbing edit

In 2018, aged 14, Seo redpointed the 9a (5.14d) sport climbing route, Bad Girls Club, at the Wicked Cave, near Rifle, Colorado.[5] On November 22, 2022, aged 19, Seo redpointed the famous 9a+ (5.15a) Spanish sport climb, La Rambla, becoming the second-ever woman to redpoint the route.[6][7] During that same trip to Spain, Seo on-sighted the 8c (5.14b) route, L'Antagonista, in Serra de Montsant, becoming the second-ever female to on-sight a route at that grade.[8]

Competition climbing edit

In 2019, she made her IFSC Climbing World Cup debut and won the Lead World Cup season title ahead of Slovenia's Janja Garnbret and Japan's Natsuki Tanii by earning four gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal; medalling in all six lead events.[9] In November of that year she participated in the Asian Championships winning gold in both lead and bouldering disciplines.[10] She qualified for the first appearance of sport climbing at the Summer Olympics via her placement at the 2019 IFSC Combined World Championships.[11]

In 2021, aged 17, Seo competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics where she made the finals and finished in 8th place overall.[12] A month later she went on to win the gold medal in lead climbing at the 2021 World Championships, achieving the only top of the women's lead finals that year.[13]

In 2022, Seo placed second overall in the 2022 IFSC World Cup season in lead, having earned three silver medals and two bronze medals.[14] She also won gold medals in lead and combined along with a bronze medal in bouldering at the 2022 Asian Championships.[15]

In 2023, Seo won the silver medal in bouldering at the World Cup in Brixen, her first bouldering medal at an IFSC World Cup. In August, Seo finished third in lead at the 2023 World Championships. She also represented South Korea at the 2022 Asian Games where she received the silver medal in the boulder-and-lead combined event. Heavy raining had caused the event's finals to be cancelled and standings were based off of semi-final results. Because Seo had finished the semi-final round tied on points with Japan's Ai Mori, first and second place were determined via count-back to the qualification round.[16]

Rankings edit

World Cup edit

[17] 2019 2021 2022 2023
Lead 1 17 2 7
Bouldering 10 10
Speed 80
Combined

World Championships edit

[17] 2019 2021 2023
Lead 4 1 3
Bouldering 13 37 45
Speed 50
Combined 13 10

Asian Championships edit

[17] 2019 2022
Lead 1 1
Bouldering 1 3
Speed 15
Combined 4 1

World Cup podiums edit

Lead edit

Season[17] Gold Silver Bronze Total
2019 4 1 1 6
2021 1 1
2022 3 2 5
Total 4 5 3 12

Bouldering edit

Season[17] Gold Silver Bronze Total
2023 1 1
Total 1 1

Combined (Bouldering & Lead) edit

Season[17] Gold Silver Bronze Total
2022 1 1
Total 1 1

Television edit

Year Program Original title Network Role Note Ref.
2021 Sporty Sisters 2 노는언니2 E Channel Guest Ep. 5, 6, 7 [18][19]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Chaehyun Seo Redpoints La Rambla (5.15a) and Onsights 5.14b". climbing.com. November 30, 2022.
  2. ^ "'제2의 김자인' 고교생 서채현 떴다". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 2019-07-21. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  3. ^ "[Tokyo Olympcis] S. Korean Seo Chae-hyun reaches finals of women's sport climbing". The Korea Herald. 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  4. ^ "Seo Chaehyun and Jakob Schubert crowned Lead World Champions 2021". Planet Mountain. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  5. ^ Burgman, John (22 August 2018). "The Korean Crusher: Chaehyeon Seo Sends 5.14d at Age 14". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  6. ^ "La Rambla 9a+(5.15a)". instagram.com. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  7. ^ "Chaehyun Seo repeats La Rambla (9a+) at Siurana". planetmountain.com. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  8. ^ "Chaehyun Seo second woman to onsight 8c, L'Antagonista at Montsant in Spain". PlanetMountain. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  9. ^ "IFSC CLIMBING WORLD CUP 2019: W O M E N LEAD".
  10. ^ "ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - BOGOR (INA) 2019".
  11. ^ "Who Is Chaehyun Seo? – Korea's Strongest At Just 17!". Climber News. 23 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Seo Chae-hyun finishes 8th in women's sport climbing at Tokyo Olympics". Korea Times. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  13. ^ "Seo Chaehyun and Jakob Schubert crowned Lead World Champions 2021". Planet Mountain. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  14. ^ "IFSC Climbing World Cup Results". IFSC. 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  15. ^ "IFSC Asia - Continental Championships (B, L, S, B&L) - Republic of Korea 2022". IFSC. 2023-10-16. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  16. ^ "Asian Games 2023 sport climbing: World number two Mori Ai wins women's boulder & lead combined title after final cancelled". Olympics. 2023-10-07. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  17. ^ a b c d e f IFSC, ed. (April 14, 2024). "Chaehyun Seo Athlete Profile". Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  18. ^ "노는언니2". www.imtcast.com. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  19. ^ "미리보기 > 노는언니2". www.imtcast.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.

External links edit