KOREAN NET

Athletes on Sept. 22 compete in the preliminaries of the International Federation of Sport Climbing World Championships at Han-Eul Square of Olympic Park in Seoul's Songpa-gu District. (Lee Jeongwoo)

By Charles Audouin

The world's best in sports and para climbing are competing in Seoul.

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) and the Korea Alpine Federation said the biennial Climbing World Championships on Sept. 20 kicked off its nine-day run.

Approximately 1,000 athletes from 60 countries have entered the tournament in events like paraclimbing, boulder, lead and speed. The qualifying rounds are held at Han-Eul Square of Olympic Park and the finals at Olympic Gymnastics Arena (KSPO Dome) in Seoul's Songpa-gu District.

Seoul's bid to host the competition was unanimously approved in April 2023 at the IFSC Congress in Singapore, making Korea third Asian country to host the event after China (2009) and Japan (2019).

The federation said, "We hope for many people to visit the competition venues to feel the appeal of climbing and support the national team."

caudouin@korea.kr