Seoul, Korea, January 5, 2023: Korea has high hopes that it can clinch second place at this year’s 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, according to Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.
The 19th Asian Games are set for September 23 to October 8 after being postponed for one year due to the pandemic. There will be 40 sports, 61 disciplines and 482 events, and the Koreans are hopeful they can reclaim second spot from Japan in the medal rankings, behind the serial medal table-toppers China.
“The Asian Games have long been a three-horse race featuring South Korea, China and Japan. China has won every medal race since 1982 and should keep that streak alive on home soil,” Yonhap said.
“South Korea ceded second place to Japan at the 2018 Asian Games, the first time it had slipped out of the No. 2 spot since 1994. South Korea won 49 gold medals, its fewest in 36 years.”
Yonhap says there is cause for optimism this time around, though. For one, young medalists from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will test their mettle against Asian competition, including archers An San and Kim Je-deok and artistic gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong.
An won three gold medals at Tokyo at the age of 20, in the mixed team with Kim, women’s team and women’s individual, and will be one of the faces of Hangzhou in the build-up to the Asian Games.
Then there are two athletes who couldn't quite reach the podium in Tokyo but have since taken huge steps forward in their development.
High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok, 26, finished fourth in Tokyo but won the world indoor title in March 2022. He followed that up with the silver medal at the world athletics championships in Oregon, USA in July.
Freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, 19, reached the finals in the men's 100m and 200m freestyle events at Tokyo in the summer of 2021 and, less than a year later, won silver in the 200m freestyle at the world championships with a new national record time of 1:44.47. Hwang also owns the Asian record in the 100m freestyle at 47.56, set in Tokyo.
Source: Yonhap News