S'POREANS CAN SCALE TO THE TOP, SAYS KIM

Korean climbing legend believes coaching, funding key to developing world-class stars

- Deepanraj Ganesan

With a decorated career that includes 31 World Cup wins, 14 Asian titles and two World Championships since 2004, Kim Ja-in certainly knows what it takes to be successful on the world stage in sport climbing.

And the South Korean climbing legend believes that Singapore has the potential to produce Olympic-calibre climbers.

The 36-year-old got up close and personal with about 30 local climbers on March 1 as she did a demonstration climb and a meet-and-greet with the community at Project Send, a bouldering gym at the Esplanade.

The renowned athlete's trip to Singapore is part of energy drink Red Bull's Train Like A Champ challenge, an initiative seeking to encourage more Singaporeans to embrace an active lifestyle.

Speaking through a translator, Kim said: "I can see that climbing has grown more popular here even compared to last August, when I came here for the first time.

"Singapore has lots of climbing gyms now, but more people need to look to do it as more than just a hobby and train and climb like athletes.