Nagoya:Sport climber Lee Do-hyun captured the silver medal in the men's boulder event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, marking South Korea's first medal in the sport at this venue.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee scored 49.7 points, finishing behind Japan's Sorato Anraku, who achieved 74.5 points at the Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall. Another Japanese climber, Tomoa Narasaki, secured the bronze with 44.9 points.
This achievement marks Lee's second consecutive Asian Games silver medal, following his previous one in the combined event in 2023. The boulder event requires climbers to complete routes on 4-meter walls with the fewest attempts. A "Top" earns 25 points, reaching a "Zone" earns 10 points, and each failed attempt reduces the score by 0.1 point. With four problems in the final, the maximum score possible was 100 points.
In the competition, Lee did not score on his first boulder, while Anraku earned a perfect 25 points and Narasaki 24.9 points. Lee then scored 24.9 and 24.8 points on the next two boulders, while Anraku scored 24.8 and 24.7 points. Anraku led with 74.5 points going into the final boulder but did not score, providing Lee a chance to catch up. However, Lee also failed to score in the last attempt.
Lee expressed mixed emotions after the event, stating, "I wanted to give it everything I had, but I feel like I didn't quite manage it," but he was still honored to win silver. He admitted feeling more nervous than anticipated and revealed he competed despite having the flu, trying to ignore its impact.
Lee will attempt to win his first Asiad gold in the lead event, with the semifinals scheduled for Friday and the final on Saturday.
In other results, Chon Jong-won, the 2018 Asiad men's combined champion, finished fifth with 30 points. In the women's speed event, Jeong Ji-min earned a bronze medal with a time of 6.18 seconds. The gold went to Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi with a time of 6.062 seconds, followed closely by Deng Lijuan of China at 6.064 seconds. The women's final faced an interruption due to a scoreboard malfunction.