KIM WOO-MIN’S DREAM OF WEARING THE ASIAN CHAMPION’S ARMBAND TO THE WORLD IN ENGLISH

Kim Woo-min (22, Gangwon Provincial Office) got a pentagram tattooed on his left wrist after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021. Having only competed in the 800-meter freestyle relay, a team event, in Tokyo, Kim dreamed of competing on the big stage and winning a medal in an individual event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He also set a specific goal to become the best Asian swimmer in the men’s freestyle middle and long distance and then enter the center of the world. His dreams are becoming a reality through systematic preparation and hard training. Kim Woo-min won the men’s 800m freestyle in 7:46.03 at the Hangzhou Asian Games Swimming Management at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center pool in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on Monday .It was a meet record, shaving 2.33 seconds off the previous record of 7:48.36 set by Chinese swimming icon Sun Yang, whose hometown is Hangzhou.im Woo-min, who is “going for the stars,” also shaved 1.63 seconds off his South Korean record of 7:47.69.After teaming up with Hwang Sun-woo, Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Province) and Lee Ho-joon (Daegu Metropolitan City) in the men’s 800-meter freestyle relay on Friday to win Korea’s first ever Asian Games team gold medal, Kim won silver in the 1,500-meter freestyle on Saturday before claiming his first individual Asian Games gold in the 800 meters. He also had the honor of becoming the first Korean medalist in the 800-meter freestyle event, which is being held for the third time at an Asian Games after New Delhi in 1951 and Jakarta-Palembang in 2018.Kim has already established himself as a world-class swimmer in the 400-meter freestyle. At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka in July, he broke his own personal record in the men’s 400m freestyle in both the preliminaries (3:44.50) and final (3:43.92) to finish in the top five in the world .Kim, who finished sixth in 3:45.64 at Budapest last year, improved his time by 1.72 seconds in less than a year and moved up one spot to fifth on the World Championships personal best list. Kim was the only Asian swimmer to reach the final of the men’s 400-meter freestyle at both last year’s and this year’s World Championships .In the men’s 800-meter freestyle, Park set a new Korean record at the World Championships in July with a time of 7:47.69, 2.24 seconds off the 7:49.93 set by Park at the London Olympics in August 2012.Park’s 800-meter freestyle time is an “800-meter leg time,” measured during the 1,500-meter race at the 2012 London Olympics. In an official 800-meter race, it’s likely that Park would have lowered his time even further. However, compared to the times of current athletes, Kim Woo-min is already among the best in Asia .In Hangzhou, Kim solidified his position as the best 800-meter freestyle swimmer in the world .Although his second-place finish in the 1,500-meter freestyle denied South Korea its first Asian Games quadruple, Kim Woo-min is likely to become the third South Korean swimmer to win a triple, joining Choi Yun-hee at New Delhi 1982 and Park Tae-hwan at Doha 2006 and Guangzhou 2010.If he can shake off the physical strain and reach the top of the podium in the 400-meter freestyle on Monday, he will be able to wear the “Asian Games triple” medal and prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 스포츠토토 which begin next July.