[Power K-Women] "I Can Do More, Regret If I Give Up... I Will Keep Challenging"

Sports Climbing Queen Kim Ja-in
Successful Comeback After Childbirth, Preparing for Olympic Challenge
"Climbing Makes Me Happiest, That's the Secret to Being the Best"
"Happy Mom Means Happy Child"... Cheering on Moms' Challenges

"I participated in the national team selection just one year after giving birth, but I failed. That was a tough time. I wanted to continue as an athlete, but because of that, I couldn’t spend as much time with my child and felt like I wasn’t fulfilling my role as a mother properly. I wondered if I was doing something wrong or if I was just holding on because of my own selfishness."

Kim Ja-in (35), known as the Empress of Sport Climbing, is a working mom. Last year, she attempted to return to the national team but was not selected. It would have been easy to use common excuses like her body not being the same after childbirth or her age catching up. However, she firmly rejected the excuse that her body was not the same because she had given birth. As an athlete who relies on physical ability, she could not accept childbirth as an obstacle.

"People often say you shouldn’t exercise for more than six months after giving birth and that you need to be careful, but I actually started exercising a little about a month and a half after giving birth. People around me were worried, but rather than pain in my wrist or anything like that, those issues actually improved as I exercised. Many asked if I was physically okay, but honestly, physical stamina wasn’t the problem. The real difficulty was that the climbing style and trends had changed, and they were different from what I had been doing for 20 years."

Kim is also famous for an episode where she did pull-ups while carrying her daughter in a baby carrier. The child quietly fell asleep in her mother’s arms as she went up and down the pull-up bar. While this could be seen as just a fun anecdote, it revealed how determined she was to make a comeback as an athlete.

"I wanted to exercise but also had to take care of my baby. So I did pull-ups with the baby carrier on. I think I did that until she was about one year old. The baby was young, and my exercise time was very limited."

K-Power Woman Kim Ja-in. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

After the bitter defeat at the national team selection, she tried again but faced a crisis. Before this year’s sport climbing national team selection, she suffered an injury. It was an unexpected and frustrating injury, a finger injury that is critical for a climber. At a time when national team selection was crucial for qualifying for the Paris Olympics next year.

"Honestly, I was in a mental breakdown. The national team selection this year was so important if I wanted to challenge the Olympics next year. I got injured right before that crucial moment. In 2019, I also participated in the first tournament that granted Olympic qualification and got a finger injury. That was very tough, but the same situation happened again. And it was in an unexpected way."

She said she even wondered if it was a sign telling her not to do this anymore. Instead of feeling sad, she felt angry, and that anger later became determination. So, she thought, ‘Let’s see who wins, you or me.’ She recalled, "I didn’t endure the pain passively, but with the limited time left, I did my best to treat it, paid attention to my diet, and prepared myself. Although I wasn’t fully recovered, my finger held up well, and I was able to finish strong."

Having barely returned to the national team, she won an overwhelming first place at the 9th round of the 2023 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup held in Chamonix, France, this July. She holds the record for the most gold medals in the lead discipline. Including one gold medal in bouldering, she has won 31 World Cup titles.

K-Power Woman Kim Ja-in. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Why did Kim challenge herself again? She originally prepared for the Tokyo Games but failed to secure a spot due to injuries, bad luck, and cancellations caused by COVID-19. Ultimately, she had to watch the competition as a commentator rather than as an athlete.

"Until I started commentating the Olympics, I honestly didn’t want to compete again. But after I took on the commentary role and watched the broadcast, feeling the same rhythm as the athletes, I developed a real dream to stand at the Olympics. After the commentary ended, I cautiously talked to my husband (Oh Young-hwan, member of the Democratic Party) about it. I thought he would oppose it at first, but he said he felt the same way. That’s when I got his support."

Kim explained that the reason she kept challenging herself despite difficulties was because she didn’t want to have regrets.

"If I gave up even though I could keep challenging myself, I think I would really regret it when I fully embrace my role as a mother 10 years from now. When my child grows up and asks why I stopped, I want to be able to say it proudly rather than saying, ‘I retired because I had you.’ That’s why I keep going."

So how has she been able to maintain her top position?

K-Power Woman Kim Ja-in. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

"I wasn’t a standout athlete from the beginning, so I admired those kinds of athletes. It still feels amazing to be called the best. Honestly, I still don’t have full confidence that I’m good at climbing or that I have a natural talent. I think the secret is that climbing makes me the happiest and feels the best, and I’ve kept that feeling consistently. There were tough moments during my long career, but because I had confidence, I think I was able to keep going without wavering."

She currently plays three roles: athlete, entrepreneur running her own climbing gym (Rockland), and mother.

"When I wake up in the morning, I’m busy preparing my baby for daycare. Then it’s my training time. If there’s team training, I join that; otherwise, I train individually. I come to my gym to exercise and manage the gym. Around 7 p.m., I go home and spend time with my child."

Due to the nature of sport climbing, she trains intensely all day. However, no matter how tired she is, she cannot rest after work as a working mom. Despite feeling guilty for not spending enough time with her child, she strives to fulfill both her roles as an athlete and a mother. She encouraged other mothers who are challenging themselves.

"Before, I was congratulated for results as an athlete, but now many people cheer for every step I take as a mother challenging herself. That gives me great strength. What I’m sure of is that I have to be happy for my child to be happy. Even though I sometimes feel guilty, what helps me overcome that feeling is being happy doing what I want to do. Seeing that, I think my child will feel even greater happiness from what they achieve. For those about to take on a challenge again, I hope they find strength in that thought. I want my child to know me not as the world’s best athlete but as someone who never gave up and kept challenging until the end."

▶About Kim Ja-in

She is a representative rock climbing athlete of South Korea. After participating in a youth climbing camp in the 6th grade of elementary school, she embarked on the path of a professional athlete and won a youth competition in the first grade of middle school. Since then, she has won numerous domestic and international competitions. She graduated from Korea University with a degree in Physical Education and earned a master’s degree in Sports Psychology from Korea University Graduate School. In 2007, she climbed the 123rd floor of Lotte World Tower with only basic safety equipment (rope) and no devices, using her bare hands. After giving birth, she returned to the national team in April this year and won the gold medal in the lead category at the 2023 IFSC Sport Climbing World Cup in Chamonix, France, this July.