National Para climbing athlete Tae-in Yoon has become the first South Korean competitor to win a medal at an international competition.
Yoon finished third in the men’s RP2 category at the World Climbing Paraseries Fukuoka 2026, held in Japan on November 6. After placing third in the preliminaries on November 5, Yoon secured the bronze medal with another third-place finish in the finals. The RP2 category features athletes with moderate functional limitations in strength and movement, with lower numbers indicating greater physical restriction.
The World Climbing Paraseries is the most significant competition in the sport after the World Championships. Although Yoon missed the finals with a fifth-place finish at a tournament in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, last October, he displayed steady performance and strong focus amid fierce global competition this time.
The Korean Alpine Federation and the Korea Paralympic Committee have actively supported international participation and performance enhancement following the selection of Para climbing as an official event for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Yoon was first introduced to climbing through a Paralympic Committee training camp.
Formerly a hairstylist, Yoon suffered a spinal cord injury in a motorcycle accident in March 2023, resulting in lower-body paralysis. He joined the training program during his rehabilitation and transformed into a professional athlete. Expressing his thoughts, Yoon stated, "Climbing went beyond rehabilitation; it was a sport I truly wanted to do. With the simple mindset of wanting to keep going and improve, I trained hard and am overjoyed to win my first medal at the final international competition of the year. I hope to achieve great results at next year’s World Championships in Brno, Czech Republic."
Fellow South Korean competitors also posted notable results, with Hyung-wook Choi finishing 18th in the men’s AL2 division and Da-kyung Lee placing 6th in the women’s B2 division.
