Seoul to host sport climbing world championships for 1st time

Korea will host the world's premier sport climbing competition for the first time beginning this weekend, with homegrown athletes set to compete for medals in front of partisan crowds. The 19th edition of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Climbing World Championships will run from Sunday to Sept. 28 at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul, with over 1,000 climbers from some 60 nations in action. The qualifications for each of lead, speed and boulder events will take place at Haneol Plaza inside the park, and all the finals will be contested at KSPO Dome. The IFSC held its first world championships in 1991 and Korea won the right to host the 19th edition of the competition during the IFSC General Assembly in Singapore in 2023. Korea will send 11 female and 11 male climbers to all three disciplines. Among the medal contenders will be Seo Chae-hyun, world No. 1 in the women's lead and the 2021 world lead champion; Lee Do-hyun, world No. 2 in the men's boulder and the 2023 world bronze medalist in boulder; and Jeong Ji-min, ranked third in the world in the women's speed thiWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times