Nagoya:Sport climber Seo Chae-hyun secured the gold medal in the women's lead event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, while fellow South Korean Lee Do-hyun claimed the bronze in the men's lead event later that day.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Seo achieved victory in the women's lead final held at the Port Messe Nagoya Exhibition Hall in central Japan. She outperformed Ai Mori of Japan, who scored 47+, marking Seo's first career Asian Games gold medal. Seo had previously won bronze in the women's boulder competition, a discipline focused on problem-solving, and lead has been her primary event. The 22-year-old demonstrated her prowess as the top Asian climber, ranked No. 2 in the world for lead.

In the lead event, climbers aim to ascend as high as possible on a 15-meter wall within six minutes. Seo was the only finalist to achieve the maximum "Top" score, indicating she successfully clipped her rope into the last quickdraw and controlled the final hold.

Both Seo and Mori had achieved the Top score in the semifinals on Friday. During the final, Seo, performing last, surpassed Mori's high score to become the first South Korean female climber to win an Asian Games title. Previously, at the 2023 Asiad, Seo had taken silver behind Mori in the combined event, a mix of boulder and lead, with the final canceled due to bad weather.

In the men's lead final, Lee Do-hyun earned a bronze with 38 points. Neo Suzuki of Japan won gold with a score of 40+, and another Japanese climber, Satone Yoshida, secured bronze with 38+. Lee tied with China's Pan Yufei, also with 38 points, but won the tiebreaker by having a higher semifinal score of 33+, compared to Pan's 23. This was Lee's second medal in Nagoya, after winning silver in the boulder event earlier in the week.