[Asian Games] Kim Woo-min Advances to Freestyle 400m Final in 1st Place... Challenging Triple Crown After 13 Years

Challenge for the 4th Medal and 3rd Gold Medal

Kim Woo-min (22, Gangwon Provincial Office) advances to the freestyle 400m final, aiming for a triple crown at the Asian Games.

On the 29th, at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games swimming men's freestyle 400m heats held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in Zhejiang Province, China, Kim Woo-min recorded a time of 3:49.03, ranking first overall. Except for Kim Woo-min, no other swimmer finished the heats under 3 minutes 50 seconds. The second place was Ki Yu Ho Yan (Malaysia) with a time of 3:51.31. Pan Jianluo (China) recorded 3:53.38.

Kim Woo-min, who won the gold medal in the men's 800m freestyle swimming at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games [Image source=Yonhap News]

In the final held at 9:21 PM Korea Standard Time on the same day, Kim Woo-min will challenge for his third gold medal of the tournament. Previously, on the 25th, Kim Woo-min teamed up with Hwang Sun-woo, Yang Jae-hoon (both from Gangwon Provincial Office), and Lee Ho-jun to win gold in the men's 800m medley relay. Additionally, on the 28th, he set a new tournament record of 7:46.03 in the freestyle 800m, securing his second gold medal.

Kim Woo-min finished second in the freestyle 1500m, and if he wins the freestyle 400m, his main event, he will earn his fourth medal and third gold of this tournament.

Only two Korean swimmers have ever won three gold medals in a single Asian Games. Former Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Yun-hee became Korea’s first triple gold medalist in swimming at the 1982 New Delhi Games, and Park Tae-hwan achieved the triple crown twice, in 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou.

If Kim Woo-min becomes the Asian champion in the freestyle 400m as expected, Korea will have its first Asian Games triple gold medalist in swimming in 13 years since Park Tae-hwan in 2010.