Kim Ja-in


Kim Ja-in, more widely known as Jain Kim, is a professional climber. She is mainly active in lead climbing and bouldering competitions. She has won the Lead Climbing World Cup three times, the Lead Climbing World Championship once, and the Rock Master once. Moreover, she has won the Asian Championships 14 times in 15 years, namely 11 times in lead climbing and 3 times in bouldering.
Jain Kim also successfully climbs outdoors. In 2014, she redpointed her first routes graded beyond 8b+; namely Bibita Biologica and Reini’s Vibes, both in Arco, Italy.

Biography

Born into a family of mountain-dwellers and climbers, Jain Kim started climbing at the age of 12. In July 2004, at the age of 15, she started competing in the Lead Climbing World Cup and since 2006 she has also participated in the Bouldering World Cup.
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, and third in the Rock Master.
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, 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.
In May and June 2014, she redpointed her first routes in rock climbing graded 8b+, namely Bibita Biologica and Reini’s Vibes, both in Arco, Italy.
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 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 in Seoul.

Rankings

Climbing World Cup

Climbing World Championships

Youth
Discipline2005
Youth A
Lead22

Adult
Discipline200520072009201120122014201620182019
Lead32822214322
Bouldering124517115--4125
Speed----41--5459
Combined----1---40

World Games

Rock Master

Asian Championships

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead

Bouldering

Personal life

She is married to Oh Young-hwan, who is a firefighter of Seoul Fire Services and writer.