While bronze medals don’t sit as high on the podium as gold, the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games saw a number of ‘golden’ bronze medals, especially in the basic sports of swimming and track and field, which have been the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of Korean athletics for decades, adding to the diversity and richness of the Games.
In swimming, the ‘golden generation’ made history, winning an Asian Games medal in the breaststroke event for the first time in 61 years. Choi Dong-yeol, 24, set a new South Korean record with a time of 59.28 seconds to reach the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in Zhejiang Province, China, on March 25.
South Korea hasn’t finished on the podium in the event since winning bronze in Jakarta in 1962, but Choi has turned the tide. Choi also won bronze in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke on Monday, setting a new Korean record with a time of 26.93. 카지노사이트가이드
High school student Lee Eun-ji (17-Bangsango) broke a 25-year “no-medal drought” by competing in the 200-meter backstroke final.
South Korea hasn’t won a medal in the event since Shim Min-ji took bronze at the 1998 Bangkok Games. “Before I checked the standings, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s it,'” said Shim, who won bronze in 2:09.75. “It was the first time I heard of a medal in 25 years, and 25 years is really too long.”
Lee Jae-kyung (24-Gwangju Metropolitan Sports Association) won a medal (bronze) in the men’s 3-meter springboard diving, the first South Korean medal in 37 years.
Diving is an event dominated by Chinese athletes, and Lee became the first South Korean to stand on the podium in this event since Seoul 1986.
There were also victories in track and field, which had long been considered barren. The men’s sprint relay team won the bronze medal in the men’s 400m relay with a time of 38.74 seconds at the Olympic Sports Center Main Stadium on Wednesday.
The men’s relay, which hasn’t stood on the podium since winning bronze in Seoul in 1986, made history by tying the Korean record after 37 years.
South Korea’s bronze medal tally stands at 70 after four days, accounting for nearly half of its total medal tally of 148 (33 gold, 45 silver, 70 bronze). The country also won 70 bronze medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.
At the last Games, South Korea did not perform as well in the swimming events as it did this time around, but won bronze medals in the men’s 50-kilometer race, women’s pole vault and women’s javelin throw, which are considered “extreme events.