Kim Woo-min Starts '4-Crown' Quest... Will He Surpass Park Tae-hwan and Make History?[Asian Games]

Challenging Double Crown in 1500m Freestyle Today
Competing in 800m on 28th and 400m on 29th
Top Condition with 'Best 800m Medley Relay Record'

Kim Woo-min, South Korea's leading male middle- and long-distance swimmer, will challenge for multiple gold medals in the 1500m freestyle on the 26th.

On the previous day, Kim Woo-min, along with Hwang Sun-woo, Lee Ho-jun, and Yang Jae-hoon, secured South Korea's first-ever gold medal in the men's 800m freestyle relay at the Asian Games. In this competition, Kim Woo-min is competing in the 800m relay as well as individual events in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle, aiming for up to four gold medals. He seeks to surpass the Asian Games record of three gold medals held by South Korean swimming legends Choi Yun-hee and Park Tae-hwan and create a new legacy.

Choi Yun-hee won three gold medals (200m individual medley, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke) at the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, while Park Tae-hwan achieved three gold medals consecutively at the 2006 Doha Asian Games (200m, 400m, 1500m freestyle) and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games (100m, 200m, 400m freestyle). If Kim Woo-min wins gold in all his events, he will surpass these two legends. The possibility is high.

Kim Woo-min is greeting at the awards ceremony after winning the gold medal in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 25th at the Olympic Sports Center Swimming Pool in Hangzhou, China.
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Kim Woo-min's main event is the 400m freestyle, scheduled for the 29th, where he is the favorite to win gold. He was the only Asian swimmer to reach the finals in the 400m at the World Championships last year and this year, finishing 6th and 5th respectively.

In the 800m freestyle, Kim Woo-min broke the Korean national record previously held by Park Tae-hwan this year. At the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July, he recorded a time of 7 minutes 47.69 seconds in the 800m heats, cutting 2.24 seconds off Park Tae-hwan's previous Korean record of 7 minutes 49.93 seconds set at the 2012 London Olympics. Kim Woo-min's time also surpassed the 7 minutes 48.36 seconds recorded by China's Sun Yang, who won gold in the 800m at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

The 1500m freestyle is the biggest variable in Kim Woo-min's quest for four gold medals. He did not compete in the 1500m at the Fukuoka World Championships in July. Kim Woo-min aims to win the 1500m gold for the first time in 17 years since Park Tae-hwan at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

Kim Woo-min appears to be in good physical condition. In the 800m freestyle relay where he won gold the previous day, he swam the third leg and posted the fastest split among the four swimmers. The 800m relay consists of four swimmers each swimming 200m, and Kim Woo-min's 200m split was 1 minute 44.50 seconds. This was faster than Hwang Sun-woo (1 minute 45.04 seconds) and Lee Ho-jun (1 minute 45.36 seconds), who finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the 100m freestyle final on the 24th. Among all 32 swimmers in that final, Kim Woo-min's 200m split was the fastest.

Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-jun, Kim Woo-min, and Hwang Sun-woo are embracing each other joyfully after securing the gold medal in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 25th at the Olympic Sports Center Swimming Pool in Hangzhou, China.
Photo by Yonhap News

When Kim Woo-min took over the race as the second swimmer from Lee Ho-jun in the 800m final, the gap with second-place China was 0.45 seconds. After the first 50m segment, the gap narrowed to 0.27 seconds. However, true to his status as a middle- and long-distance leader, Kim Woo-min steadily widened the gap thereafter. By the end of the second segment, he extended the lead to 0.61 seconds, and in the third segment, to 1.23 seconds. When Kim Woo-min finished his leg, the gap with China had grown to 1.94 seconds. The final swimmer, Hwang Sun-woo, started with a comfortable lead and at one point extended the gap to over 3 seconds, securing the gold medal with ease.

Kim Woo-min's 1500m final is scheduled to take place at 8:54 PM.

With Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min leading the golden generation of Korean swimming, the South Korean team is expected to achieve its best-ever performance at the Asian Games.

The tournament where South Korean swimming won the most gold medals in a single Asian Games was the 2010 Guangzhou Games, with 4 golds (3 silvers, 6 bronzes). Besides Park Tae-hwan, Jung Da-rae won gold in the women's 200m breaststroke at that time.

The South Korean swimming team has already secured 2 gold medals and 4 bronze medals. Besides the men's 800m relay gold, Ji Yoo-chan won a surprise gold medal in the 50m freestyle by setting a new Asian record.

Kim Woo-min can still aim for 3 more gold medals, and Hwang Sun-woo will also compete for gold in his main event, the 200m freestyle, on the 27th.

Meanwhile, on the 26th, medals are also being pursued in taekwondo, judo, rugby, and table tennis. In judo, Kim Min-jong and Kim Ha-yoon are aiming for medals in the men's and women's open weight categories, respectively. In taekwondo, Lee Ki-beom (men's 63kg), Park Hye-jin (women's 53kg), and Kim Yoo-jin (women's 57kg) are competing. The men's table tennis team has advanced to the finals for the 10th consecutive time in the team event. Having secured the silver medal, they will face the powerhouse China.

The men's rugby team will play the semifinals against China starting at 12:15 PM. If they win, they will compete for the gold medal against the winner of the Japan-Hong Kong match at 7:05 PM. In cycling, the women's team comprising Lee Hye-jin, Jo Sun-young, Hwang Hyun-seo, and Park Ji-hye, who won the team sprint at last year's Asian Track Cycling Championships, is also aiming for medals.