‘Hwang Sun-woo and the Golden Generation’ set an Asian record and gave Korean swimming its first ever team gold medal at an Asian Games.
The Korean men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team of Yang Jae-hoon (25-Gangwon Provincial Government), Lee Ho-joon (22-Daegu Metropolitan City), Kim Woo-min (22) and Hwang Sun-woo (20-Isangwon Provincial Government) were the first to touch the touchpad in 7:01.73 in the men’s 800-meter freestyle relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Swimming Pool in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on Friday.
The time of 7:01.73 is an Asian record, shaving 0.53 seconds off Japan’s record of 7:02.26 set at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, 14 years ago.
This was before regulations on the shape and material of the swimsuits that produced the record.
South Korea, which had previously won only four silver medals in the team event relay (women’s 400-meter freestyle relay in Beijing in 1990, men’s 800-meter freestyle relay in Hiroshima in 1994, men’s 400-meter medley relay in Guangzhou in 2010, and women’s 400-meter medley relay in Incheon in 2014), made history by winning gold in the men’s 800-meter freestyle relay in Hangzhou.
A new Asian record doubled the joy.
Hosts China (Wang Shun, New Guangsheng, Yang Haoyu, Fan Zhanle) were hoping to regain the top spot for the first time in 13 years since Guangzhou 2010, but finished second in 7:03.40, 1.67 seconds behind South Korea.
Despite fielding a strong team that included Fan Zhanle, who won the 100-meter freestyle the day before, Yang Haoyu, who finished second, and Wang Sun, 온라인카지노 who won gold in the 200-meter individual medley, the swimmers who have sparked a renaissance in Korean swimming were faster.
Japan finished third in 7:06.29.
Hwang Sun-woo, who had won bronze in the 100-meter freestyle the day before, struck gold for his second individual Asian Games medal, while Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Yang Jae-hoon, as well as preliminaries Lee Yoo-yeon (Korea Gymnastics) and Kim Gun-woo (Dokdo Sports), also won their first Asian Games gold medals.
In the final, the first Korean runner, Yang Jae-hoon, finished the race in 1:46.83, just 0.87 seconds behind Wang Sun in 1:45.96.
After Yang’s smooth start, No. 2 Lee Ho-joon picked up the pace and passed the Chinese at the 300-meter mark. Lee clocked 1:45.36, 1.32 seconds faster than New Guangsheng (1:46.68).
South Korea widened the gap further as No. 3 Kim Woo-min clocked 1:44.50 to beat Yang Haowei (1:45.99).
The final Korean runner, Hwang Sun-woo (1:45.04), who entered the water 1.94 seconds ahead of China, held off the challenge of Pan Zhan-li (1:44.77) to reach the finish line where his teammates were waiting.
His teammates, including Kim Woo-min, who had been shouting “hurry up,” roared as he touched the touchpad.
Hwang, Lee, and the rest of the Korean men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team said, “All four members of the relay did so well in training that I thought, ‘Is this a Korean record?’ We’ve been training really hard,” said Hwang, adding, “In the 800-meter freestyle relay, we’re not only trying to break the Korean record (7:04.07) but also the Asian record.”
Armed with grueling training and trust in their teammates, the Korean relay team achieved both goals in the actual competition: an Asian record and a gold medal. 슬롯