Even after setting the season's best record and passing the preliminaries in second place overall, the Korean track and field men's 400m relay team was disappointed.
This is because their dream is to achieve a new Korean record and an Asian Games medal.
The Korean track and field men's 400m relay team, run in that order by Lee Jeong-tae (27, Anyang City Hall), Kim Guk-young (32, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall), Lee Jae-seong (22, Korea National Sport University), and Park Won-jin (20, Sokcho City Hall), was held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in Zhejiang, China on the 2nd. He took second place with a time of 38.75 seconds in Group 1 of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games preliminaries held at the main stadium
In Group 1, there were the favorites China and Thailand. Except for Japan in Group 2, the candidates for the championship were concentrated in Group 1.
Although it was 0.13 seconds slower than China, which finished the race in 38.62 seconds, Korea advanced to the finals in second place overall, finishing 0.24 seconds faster than Japan (38.99 seconds), which ranked first in Group 2.
Korea, with the same members, will challenge for its first medal in 37 years in the finals held at 10:25 pm on the 3rd, Korean time.
The only time Korea won a medal in the men's 400m relay at the Asian Games was in the 1986 Seoul Games. After coming in 3rd place at the time, I never stood on the podium.
At the center of the 'medal challenge for the first time in 37 years' is Kim Kook-young, the holder of the Korean men's 100m record (10.07 seconds).
Kim Kook-young suffered aftereffects from an injury during the Hangzhou Asian Games national team selection event, so he was unable to participate in the individual event at this tournament.
However, he joined the 400m relay team with the goal of setting a new Korean relay record with his juniors.
Kim Kook-young, who said before the competition, "Our relay team prepared really well. Please look forward to it," said, "I ran with the intention of setting a new Korean record from the preliminaries. There were a lot of candidates for the championship excluding Japan in the first group of the preliminaries, so I wanted to show a better performance in the preliminaries." “It was 0.01 seconds slower than the Korean record, but I will definitely set a new Korean record in the finals held on the afternoon of the 3rd.”
The Korean record for the men's 400m relay is 38.74 seconds set by Oh Kyung-soo, Cho Gyu-won, Kim Kuk-young, and Joshua in 2014.
The Hangzhou Asian Games national team increased its chances of winning a medal by setting a good record of 38.75 seconds in the less warm preliminaries.
The previous season's best time for the Korean men's 400m relay was 38.77 seconds.
This record was also set on September 17 by Lee Jeong-tae, Kim Guk-young, Lee Jae-seong, and Park Won-jin, and in just 15 days, the season's best record was reduced by 0.02 seconds.
Kim Kook-young said, "Our team has definitely improved compared to September 17th. The content of today's preliminaries is also encouraging," and added, "Generally, the times in the finals are better than those in the preliminaries by about 0.2 seconds. If we want to win a medal, we need to set a new Korean record. “We have to build it,” he said, expressing his motivation. 카지노사이트
He added, "I don't have an Asian Games medal yet. I really want to win an Asian Games medal before I retire. I've prepared hard by sharing the hardships and hardships of my juniors for several months. I'll give it my all tomorrow."
To the example of senior Kim Guk-young, the juniors also responded with diligent training.
No. 1 runner Lee Jeong-tae said, "If the first runner falls behind, the other three runners feel a lot of pressure. That's why there was a lot of pressure." He added, "Kook Young-i said, 'We can set a new Korean record. Let's believe in ourselves and our teammates.' “I started to feel more and more confident. I went through the preliminaries today comfortably,” he said.
Lee Jae-seong, who came in third after Kim Kuk-young, said, “I will give my all in the finals and try to achieve good results.”
The youngest Park Won-jin, who was the anchor (last runner), said, "It is an honor to be the last runner on the national relay team, which is something that any sprinter in track and field would envy. At the same time, there is a lot of pressure," and "I was able to persevere because my older brothers gave me a lot of advice and believed in me." revealed.
Park Won-jin promised a 'new Korean record', saying, "I wasn't able to show everything I had in the preliminaries. I will show more in the finals tomorrow."
Woo Sang-hyuk (27, Yongin City Hall), a world-renowned men's high jump star, also supports the relay team.
In particular, the eyes looking at Lee Jeong-tae, an elementary, middle and high school classmate, are very warm.
Woo Sang-hyuk said, "Jeong-tae was a really good runner, but he had a difficult time because of his injury. But he played really well today," and added, "I will meet him again and congratulate him, and I will cheer for the relay race tomorrow."