The South Korean track and field team celebrates with the national flag after winning the bronze medal in
the men’s 400m relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Gymnasium in
Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday.
“I wasn’t a good runner.”
Kim Kook-young
32, the eldest member of South Korea’s men’s 400-meter relay team, said after winning bronze in the
men’s 400-meter relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Gymnasium
in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday. It had been 37 years since South Korean athletics had won an Asian
Games medal in the men’s 400-meter relay, but Kim wasn’t about to show off.
He didn’t say it out of politeness.
“In the 16 years I played for the national team, there were more times when I didn’t win a medal, which
means I’ve failed more than anyone else,” Kim said. “So I’ve become someone who knows what to say to
an athlete when they come back from a race with their head down. I haven’t decided if I’m going to retire
after this event, but I want to help the younger guys in any way I can.”
South Korea’s Kim Kook-young (2nd R) shakes hands with Japan’s Kiryu Yoshihide (1st R) who won silver
after winning bronze in the men’s 400m relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou
Olympic Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday.
South Korea’s men’s relay team was led by Lee Jung-tae (27), Kim Kook-young, Lee Jae-sung (22) and Ko
Seung-hwan (26) and crossed the finish line in 38.74 seconds, third behind China (38.29) and Japan
(38.44). This is the first time Korean athletics has stood on the podium in the men’s 400-meter relay at an
Asian Games since the 1986 Seoul Games in Anbang. The relay team of Kim Jong-yoon, Sung Nak-gun,
Shim Duk-seop and Jang Jae-geun won the bronze medal back then.
After the race, Kim said,
“It’s weird. When I first saw the scoreboard, it showed 38.73, which was 0.01 seconds faster than the
Korean record, but then it changed again. I should sue them,” he joked before adding, “I didn’t break the
Korean record, but I’m satisfied because I won my first medal at my last Asian Games.” Kim Kook-young,
who leads the men’s relay team, has competed in three consecutive Asian Games – Guangzhou 2010,
Incheon 2014 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018 – but never made it to the podium.
This time was different, with a medal in sight even before the final. In the preliminary round of the
competition the day before, the team, with Park Won-jin (20) in place of Ko Seung-hwan, ran in the order
of Lee Jung-tae, Kim Kook-young, Lee Jae-sung, and Park Won-jin to finish second overall with a time of
38.75 seconds. The time of 38.75 was 0.01 seconds behind the previous Korean record set nine years ago on July 6, 2014, by Oh Kyung-soo, Cho Kyu-won, Kim Kook-young and Yeo Hosu-ah at the Korea-China-Japan Friendship Athletics Meet. The men’s 400-meter relay team had been on a roll, winning a bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in July for the first time in 38 years, and they matched the Korean record in the Asian Games final.
South Korea’s track and field team celebrates with the national flag after winning bronze in the men’s 400m relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday.
“It’s a shame that I couldn’t pass on my good vibes to (men’s high jumper) Woo Sang-hyuk by winning gold today,” said Lee, who ran with the burden of being the No. 1 runner in the final, but added, “I’m grateful that we were able to win a medal together at this Asian Games, which is the last time that (Kim) Kook-young will be competing.”
South Korea’s track and field athlete Kim Kook-young poses with the national flag after winning bronze in the men’s 400m relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Gymnasium on Wednesday, saying, “This is my last Asian Games, so please take a commemorative photo.”
“The most important thing I emphasized to my teammates before this final was ‘responsibility’.
I told them not to have the mindset of ‘my brother will do it’ or ‘the next runner will do it’, but that all four runners should run with the mindset of ‘I have to do it’ and pass the baton to the other person, and our names will definitely be written on the electronic board.” “My brothers all did that, and that’s why we won the medal today,” Kim said. 스포츠토토맨