(LEAD) (Asiad) Sport climber Lee Do-hyun grabs silver in men's boulder
(ATTN: ADDS comments, more results at bottom, photos)
By Yoo Jee-ho
NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- Sport climber Lee Do-hyun seized silver in the men's boulder event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday for South Korea's first medal from the sport here.
Lee scored 49.7 points to finish second behind the Japanese star Sorato Anraku, who earned 74.5 point at Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall in Nagoya. Tomoa Narasaki of Japan got the bronze with 44.9 points.
This was Lee's second straight Asian Games silver, following one in the combined event in 2023.
Lee Do-hyun of South Korea celebrates on the podium after winning silver in the men's boulder final in sport climbing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 30, 2026. (Yonhap)
The objective of boulder is to complete the most routes in the fewest attempts on 4-meter walls. Climbers receive 25 points for finishing a route ("Top") and 10 points for reaching a designated midway hold ("Zone"), but lose 0.1 point for each unsuccessful attempt. With four problems presented in the final, the maximum score was 100 points.
Lee did not receive a point on his first boulder, while Anraku earned a perfect 25 points and Narasaki got 24.9 points.
But Lee bounced right back to earn 24.9 points and then 24.8 points in the next two boulders.
Anraku scored 24.8 points in the second boulder and 24.7 in the third boulder.
With one boulder remaining, Anraku was sitting at the top with 74.5 points. But after the Japanese climber failed to earn a point in the last boulder, it gave Lee an opening to pull off a massive comeback.
However, Lee himself could not earn any point in his last attempt.
Lee will take another shot at winning his first Asiad gold in the lead event -- with the semifinals on Friday and the final on Saturday.
Chon Jong-won, the 2018 Asiad men's combined champion, finished fifth on Wednesday with 30 points.
Lee Do-hyun of South Korea competes in the men's boulder final in sport climbing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 30, 2026. (Yonhap)
Lee said afterward he had a mixed bag of emotions.
"I wanted to give it everything I had, but I feel like I didn't quite manage it," he said. "But I am still honored to have won this silver medal."
Lee, who also finished behind Anraku in the combined event three years ago, said he was more nervous than he had expected himself to be.
"I didn't quite get into the tempo that I wanted to," he added. "Ultimately, I just wasn't good enough."
Lee revealed that he competed through flu and added, "I am getting better, and I tried to compete as if this flu had no impact whatsoever."
Lee Do-hyun of South Korea waves to the crowd after clinching silver in the men's boulder final in sport climbing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 30, 2026. (Yonhap)
In Wednesday's nightcap, Jeong Ji-min won bronze in the women's speed event with a time of 6.18 seconds.
The women's final was interrupted due to a scoreboard malfunction.
Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi took the gold in 6.062 seconds, followed by Deng Lijuan of China at 6.064 seconds.
Jeong Ji-min of South Korea poses with her bronze medal won in the women's speed event in sport climbing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 30, 2026. (Yonhap)
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.