Ji Yu-chan is cheering after winning the men’s 50m freestyle final at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Aquatic Arena in China on the 25th. Hangzhou/AFP Yonhap News
When the starting signal sounds, it cuts through the water like an arrow flying towards a target. He is unwavering despite the overwhelming support of the Chinese home audience. 21 seconds 72. It was the time Ji Yu-chan (21, Daegu City Hall), who won the first gold medal in Korean swimming, needed to put the continent to sleep. Ji Yu-chan took first place with a time of 21.72 seconds in the men’s 50m freestyle final at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Aquatic Arena in China on the 25th. This morning, he rewrote his own new Asian Games record (21 seconds 84), falling just one short of the Asian record (21 seconds 67). This is the second time that Korea has won a gold medal in the 50m freestyle, after Kim Min-seok at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. Until Ji You-chan won the gold medal that day, swimming at the Hangzhou Asian Games was an event for China. China swept all gold medals in seven events on the first day of swimming (the 24th). There were also four silver medals. On this day, she won both gold and silver medals in two events (men’s 50m backstroke and women’s 50m backstroke) before Ji Yu-chan’s reverse swim began. Since China showed such a strong performance, cheering was also heated. But Ji Yu-chan was not at all intimidated. Rather, he pledged to crack the flow of the continent. After the game, Ji Yu-chan said, “I was watching the game yesterday, and all the first place winners were Chinese players. I thought in my heart that it would be nice if I could break it, and I’m really glad I did it.” Regarding the one-sided cheering, he said, “I didn’t feel that kind of pressure at all,” and added, “I think I was able to gain more strength because my teammates on the national team cheered hard.” He said, “It is more meaningful to win a gold medal in a game held in China rather than a home game. “I will try hard in the remaining games,” he said.
Ji Yu-chan is off to a strong start in the men’s 50m freestyle final at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Aquatic Arena in China on the 25th. Hangzhou/Yonhap News
This gold medal is truly a surprise gift. Ji Yu-chan defeated Hwang Seon-woo (Gangwon Provincial Office) and took first place at the Jeju Halla Cup National Swimming Competition last April, but was not the athlete receiving attention at this competition. However, on this day, he raised expectations by setting a new Asian Games record in the preliminaries, and broke his own record in the finals to win the gold medal. Ji Yu-chan said, “I wanted to aim for the new Asian record because it was close, but I am disappointed that it fell slightly short. I am satisfied with the record (today), but I am not too satisfied and will try to reduce it further.” He said, “(This competition) seems to have motivated me to work harder and love swimming more.” Hangzhou/Reporter Lee Jun-hee givenhappy@hani.co.kr
2023-09-25 12:29:35
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