Kim Woo-min (23) has won an Olympic medal for the first time in 12 years in Korean swimming. She performed somewhat poorly in the preliminary round and received some criticism, but she overcame it with her performance. It was a miracle of the first lane. She also told the story behind the gold necklace she wore.
At 3:42 a.m. on the 28th (Korea time), Kim Woo-min recorded 3:42.50 in the men’s 400m freestyle final at the 2024 Paris Olympics at La Defense Arena in Paris, France, and won the bronze medal by taking the final touchpad as the third of the eight.
At the preliminary round of 4 held earlier on the same day, Kim recorded 3:45:52 to rank fourth among the eight players. Eventually, Kim took the final stage in seventh place for a ticket to the final round, which was given to the top eight players in the preliminary round.
Some fans expressed regret over the unexpected poor performance of seventh place in the preliminary round. In particular, there was a story about the gold necklace worn by Kim Woo-min. Some players even shaved their heads to reduce resistance even a little, and it was a question of what a gold necklace means.
However, Kim Woo-min’s gold necklace had a lot of meaning. It was a gift from his parents. After winning the bronze medal, Kim told reporters at the mixed zone, “My parents gave me this necklace. I don’t know why, but wearing this necklace gives me energy that I didn’t have. I think that’s why I was desperate. I wanted to win a gold medal, so it was a gold necklace, but unfortunately, I won a bronze medal.”
While Kim said she was a “sad bronze medalist,” Kim won an Olympic medal in swimming, which no one else but Park Tae-hwan had won. Moreover, Kim was assigned a disadvantageous lane as he finished seventh in the preliminary. Lane 1 is known to be more resistant to water than other lanes 3, 4, and 5. Still, Kim continued to chase Lucas Martens (Germany), who was in the lead from the beginning, and continued to race in second place, before finally hitting the touchpad in third place. Although she allowed Eliza Winnington (Australia) to come from behind in the final 50m section, it was a brilliant reverse. It was Kim who made up for her poor performance in the preliminary match.
After taking the touchpad at the end, Kim Woo-min said, “I thought, ‘You did it first,'” adding, “And I would like to express my gratitude to those who worked hard for this medal, to the officials of the Korea Sports Association and the Korea Swimming Federation and to the chefs.” As for his family, he said, “Unfortunately, I couldn’t come here with him because of other schedules. Still, I think he must have been cheering hard in Korea until late at night. I just really appreciate it thinking that I might have screamed too much at dawn.”
Now, Kim will start hunting for medals in men’s 200-meter freestyle once again. Hwang will also join the team. The preliminary round for the 200-meter freestyle will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, the semifinal round will be held at 3:46 a.m. on Sunday, and the final round will be held at 3:40 a.m. on Sunday. In addition, Kim is aiming for the first Olympic medal in team swimming in the 800-meter relay where Hwang and Kim Woo-min, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Young-hyun, Yang Jae-hoon and Lee Yoo-yeon will join. The 800-meter relay will take place at 5:01 a.m. on Sunday.
BY: 파워볼사이트