Kim Ja-in (, born 11 September 1988), more widely known in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

as Jain Kim, is a professional climber who specializes in

competition climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock climbing, rock-climbing competition held indoor climbing, indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition ...

. She is mainly active in

competition lead climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition climbing disciplines are lead ...

and

competition bouldering Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition climbing disciplines are lead ...

. She has won the Lead Climbing World Cup three times (2010, 2013, 2014), the Lead Climbing World Championship once (2014), and the

Rock Master Rock Master is an international competition climbing event that is held every year in Arco, Italy. The event takes place in two rounds: the first is an on-sight session and the second is called "after work". The final classification is given by ...

once (2010, Lead discipline). She has won the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

14 times in 15 years, 11 times in lead climbing and 3 times in bouldering (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...

for details). Jain Kim has also completed notable ascents outdoors. In 2014, she redpointed her first routes graded beyond the grade, including ''Bibita Biologica'' and ''Reini's Vibes'' , both in

Arco Arco may refer to: Places * Arco, Trentino, a town in Trentino, Italy * Arco, Idaho, in the United States * Arco, Minnesota, a city in the United States * ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, home of the Sacramento Kings Companies * ARCO (b ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Biography

Born into a family of mountaineers and climbers, Kim started climbing at age 12. In July 2004, at age 15, she started competing in the Lead Climbing World Cup and since 2006, she has also participated in the

Bouldering World Cup The IFSC Climbing World Cup is a series of competition climbing events held during the year at various locations around the world, organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). At each event, the athletes compete in three d ...

. She won the Lead Climbing Asian Championship in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2008, she also won the Bouldering Asian Championship. In 2009, she ranked second in the Lead Climbing World Cup, second in the Lead Climbing World Championship, second in the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

(Lead), and third in the

(Lead).

Boulder Worldcup Vienna 28-05-2010 quali-w040 Jain Kim

In 2010, she won the lead climbing competitions both in the Rock Master and the World Cup. She obtained the World Cup overall title by ranking first in five of the six stages, namely those held in

Xining Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; literally ''spring river''), formerly romanized as Ch'unch'ŏn, is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the country, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River (Korea), Han R ...

Puurs Puurs () is a former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. It is located in the Flanders, Flemish Region. The municipality comprised the towns of Breendonk, Liezele, , Ruis ...

, Huaiji, and

Kranj Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...

. The only World Cup stage that Jain Kim did not win in 2010 was the first one, held in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

. She won the Lead Climbing World Cup again in 2013 and 2014, each time winning four of the eight events. In May and June 2014, she redpointed her first routes in rock

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

graded 8b+, namely ''Bibita Biologica'' (8c) and ''Reini's Vibes'' (8c/8c+), both in

. On September 14, 2014, three days after she had turned 26, she achieved an extraordinary victory at the Lead Climbing World Championships, where she managed to ascend (

on-sight Glossary of climbing terms relates to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and to ice climbing. ebook: The terms used can vary between different English-speaking countries; ...

) all of the routes attempted in the qualifications, the semifinals, and the finals. On May 20, 2017, she climbed the 555-meter

Lotte World Tower Lotte World Tower (), is a 123-story, supertall skyscraper, located in Sincheon-dong, Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea. It is the sixth-tallest building in the world, the tallest in OECD countries and in South Korea, and also the firs ...

in Seoul. Upon winning the gold Lead World Cup in Chamonix on July 9, 2023, Kim became the oldest woman to win a Lead World Cup at 34 years old.

Personal life

She is married to Oh Young-hwan, a member of the 21st National Assembly of Korea, who was a firefighter of Seoul Fire Services and writer. On March 10, 2021, Kim gave birth to a daughter.

Rankings

Climbing World Cup

Climbing World Championships

Youth Adult

World Games

Rock Master

Asian Championships

World Cup podiums

Lead

Last updated July 9, 2023.

Bouldering

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Ja-in 1988 births Living people South Korean female climbers South Korean rock climbers Korea University alumni World Games silver medalists for South Korea World Games medalists in sport climbing Competitors at the 2005 World Games Asian Games medalists in sport climbing Sport climbers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Sportspeople from Goyang IFSC Climbing World Championships medalists IFSC Climbing World Cup overall medalists South Korean competition climbers Medalists at the 2009 World Games Medalists at the 2013 World Games 21st-century South Korean sportswomen