Fukuoka, Japan, July 25, 2023: Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo captured the bronze medal in the men's 200-metre freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan on Tuesday, Yonhap News reports.
Hwang, 20, touched the pad in the new national record time of 1:44.42 for his second straight medal at the world championships following his silver in Budapest last year.
Hwang is the first Korean to win a medal at back-to-back world swimming championships. He also joins Park Tae-hwan, a three-time medalist, as the only South Korean swimmers with multiple world championships medals.
Hwang held the previous national record with 1:44.47, set in winning the silver medal last year.
Matthew Richards of Britain won the gold medal in 1:44.30, and his countryman, Tom Dean, took the silver in 1:44.32 – just 0.02 seconds behind.
The other South Korean in the final, Lee Ho-joon, finished sixth in 1:46.04. Hwang and Lee were the first pair of South Korean teammates to race in the same final at a world swimming championship – and Hwang’s bronze was the first medal for Korea in any sport at the Fukuoka worlds.
In the women’s 1500m freestyle, China’s Li Bingjie, 21, won the bronze in 15:45.71 - 19.44 seconds behind the runaway champion Katie Ledecky of the United States (15:26.27). Simona Quadarella of Italy won the silver medal with a time of 15:43.31.