Jain Kim

Kim Ja-in (Korean: 김자인, born 11 September 1988), more widely known in the Western world as Jain Kim, is a professional climber who specializes in competition climbing. She is mainly active in competition lead climbing and competition bouldering. She has won the Lead Climbing World Cup three times (2010, 2013, 2014), the Lead Climbing World Championship once (2014), and the Rock Master once (2010, Lead discipline). She has won the Asian Championships 14 times in 15 years, 11 times in lead climbing and 3 times in bouldering (see below for details).

Jain Kim

Kim in 2018
Personal information
Born	(1988-09-11) 11 September 1988 (age 37) Goyang, South Korea
Height	153 cm (5 ft 0 in)
Weight	42 kg (93 lb)
Spouse	Oh Young-hwan
Website	jainkim.kr
Climbing career
Type of climber	Competition climbing Sport climbing Bouldering
Highest grade	Redpoint: 8c/8c+
Known for	Winning 3 World Cups, 1 World Championship and 14 Asian Championships.
Medal record Women's competition climbing Representing  South Korea Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Cups 31 14 17 World Championships 2 3 1 Asian Championships 14 3 3 World Championships 2012 Paris Combined 2014 Gijón Lead 2009 Xining Lead 2011 Arco Lead 2012 Paris Lead 2018 Innsbruck Lead World Cup 2009 Lead Winner 2010 Lead Winner 2010 Combined 2011 Lead 2012 Lead Winner 2013 Lead Winner 2014 Lead 2015 Lead Winner 2015 Combined 2016 Lead 2017 Lead 2017 Combined 2018 Lead World Games 2009 Lead 2013 Lead
Updated on May 4, 2019

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Jain Kim has also completed notable sport climbing routes. In 2014, she redpointed her first routes graded above the 8b+ (5.14a) grade, including Bibita Biologica 8c (5.14b) and Reini's Vibes 8c+ (5.14c), both in Arco, Italy.

Early life

Born into a family of mountaineers and climbers,^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Climbing career

Competition climbing

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,^[2] second in the Lead Climbing World Championship,^[3] second in the World Games (Lead), and third in the Rock Master (Lead).^[4]

Kim in the Bouldering World Cup, Vienna, 2010

In 2010, she won the competition lead climbing events both in the Rock Master^[5] and the World Cup.^[6] She obtained the World Cup overall title by ranking first in five of the six stages, namely those held in Xining, Chuncheon, Puurs, Huaiji, and Kranj. The only World Cup stage that Jain Kim did not win in 2010 was the first one, held in Chamonix. She won the Lead Climbing World Cup again in 2013 and 2014, each time winning four of the eight events.

On September 14, 2014, three days after she had turned 26, she achieved an extraordinary victory at the 2014 IFSC Climbing World Championships, where she managed to ascend (on-sight) all of the routes attempted in the lead climbing event in qualifications, the semifinals, and the final rounds.

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.^[7]

Rock climbing

In May and June 2014, she redpointed her first sport climbing routes on outdoor rock above the 8b+ (5.14a) climbing grade, namely Bibita Biologica 8c (5.14b) and Reini's Vibes (8c/8c+), both in Arco, Italy.

On May 20, 2017, she climbed the 555-meter Lotte World Tower in Seoul.^[8]

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.^[9] On March 10, 2021, Kim gave birth to a daughter.^[10]

Rankings

See also: Best IFSC results

Climbing World Cup

Discipline[11]	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2023
Lead	25	18	28	14	18	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	3	2	3	8
Bouldering	–	–	36	–	51	5	12	7	10	29	–	–	–	18	48	35	51
Speed	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	30	–	–	75	–	–
Combined	–	–	21	–	25	2	1	2	2	4	–	1	–	2	8	8

Climbing World Championships

Youth^[12]

Discipline	2005 Youth A
Lead	22

Adult^[12]

Discipline	2005	2007	2009	2011	2012	2014	2016	2018	2019
Lead	32	8	2	2	2	1	4	3	22
Bouldering	12	45	17	11	5	–	–	41	25
Speed	–	–	–	–	41	–	–	54	59
Combined	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	40

World Games

Discipline	2005	2009	2013	2017
Lead	5	2	2	4

Rock Master

Discipline	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Lead	3	1	–	–	2
Duel	–	–	5	–	3

Asian Championships

Discipline[12]	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2022
Lead	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	–	1	1	3	–	1	3
Bouldering	–	–	2	1	1	2	2	1	–	–	3	–	–	–	–

World Cup podiums

Lead

Last updated July 9, 2023.

Season[12]	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2007			1	1
2008				0
2009	1	2		3
2010	5			5
2011	5	1	1	7
2012	3	2	1	6
2013	4	2	1	7
2014	4	2		6
2015	3			3
2016		1	4	5
2017	1	3	2	6
2018	2		2	4
2019	1		1	2
2023	1			1
Total	30	13	13	56

Bouldering

Season[12]	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2009		1		1
2010			2	2
2011	1		1	2
2012			1	1
Total	1	1	4	6

Television

Year	Program	Original title	Network	Role	Note	Ref.
2015	Running Man	런닝맨	SBS	Guest	Episode 268	[13]
2021	Sporty Sisters 2	노는언니2	E Channel	Member		[14]

See also

• List of grade milestones in rock climbing
• History of rock climbing
• Rankings of most career IFSC gold medals