Kim Woo-min (22, Gangwon Provincial Office) broke Sun Yang’s (CHN) Asian Games record in the men’s 800-meter freestyle to win his second gold medal of the Games.
With the ‘favorite’ rising to the top as expected, South Korea’s swimming administration has now won a record five gold medals at the Asian Games.
Kim Woo-min was the first to touch the touchpad in the men’s 800m freestyle final at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on Monday, setting a new meet record of 7:46.03.
The previous record was 7:48.36 set by Sun Yang (CHN) at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.
Kim also shaved 1.66 seconds off the Korean record of 7:47.69, which he set at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships last July.
He had to settle for silver in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle after losing the title to Li Feiwei (CHINA), but he retained his ‘best in Asia’ status in the 800-meter freestyle.
It was also significant that Sun Yang changed the meet record in his hometown of Hangzhou.
The runner-up in the 800-meter freestyle, Li Feiwei, clocked 7:49.90, 3.87 seconds slower than Kim Woo-min.
Kim, who won the men’s 800-meter freestyle relay with Hwang Sun-woo, Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Province) and Lee Ho-joon (Daegu Metropolitan City) on Aug. 25, won his second gold medal of the Games, his first in an individual event.
Kim arrived in Huangzhou aiming to become the first South Korean swimmer to win a quadruple gold medal.
He was thrilled to win the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay, setting an Asian record with his longtime teammates.
However, in the 1,500-meter freestyle on the 26th, he was overtaken by Li Peiwei, who showed signs of physical weakness midway through the race.
It was a different story in the 800 meters.
Kim Woo-min led the race from the start and was the first to touch the touchpad, never relinquishing the top spot.
In the 400-meter freestyle, Kim had the strongest victory.
Kim finished fifth in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the Fukuoka 2023 World Championships in 3:43.92. He was the only Asian to reach the final of the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the event.
Kim is on track to become the third Korean swimmer to win the triple crown after Choi Yun-hee at the 1982 New Delhi Games and Park Tae-hwan at the 2006 Doha-2010 Guangzhou Games.
With Baek In-chul in the men’s 50-meter butterfly and Kim Woo-min in the 800-meter freestyle, Korea’s swimming program has won the most gold medals at an Asian Games since Guangzhou 2010 (four). 파워볼분석