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By Yoo Jee-ho
HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s Kim Woo-min grabbed gold in the men’s 800-meter freestyle swimming at the Asian Games on Thursday, his second gold medal of the competition.
Kim won the gold with an Asian Games record time of 7:46.03 at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou, China. He shaved more than two seconds off the previous competition mark by Hangzhou native Sun Yang.
South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min celebrates after winning gold in the men’s 800-meter freestyle at the Asian Games at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 28, 2023. (Yonhap)
Kim also broke his own national record by 1.66 seconds.
Fei Liwei of China got the silver in 7:49.90 and Nguyen Huy Hoang of Vietnam finished third in 7:51.44.
This was South Korea’s fifth gold medal in swimming, the most the country has won in the pool at a single Asiad. Moments before Kim’s gold, Baek In-chul had won the men’s 50m butterfly gold medal.
Kim led his race wire-to-wire, never once conceding first place from the 50m point to the finish.
He opened up a 1.99-second lead over Fei at the 200m mark and was never threatened the rest of the way.
Fei trailed Kim by 2.52 seconds at the 550m turn and cut the deficit to 2.37 seconds at the 600m point. But Kim pulled ahead over the final 200m and came home comfortably to win by 3.87 seconds.
Kim had set out to win four gold medals in Hangzhou. The campaign started off well with the gold medal in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay Monday, but Kim settled for silver in the 1,500m freestyle Tuesday.
Kim will try to grab his third gold medal Friday in the 400m freestyle, his main event.
South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min competes in the final of the men’s 800-meter freestyle at the Asian Games at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 28, 2023. (Yonhap)
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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