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| The men's 400m freestyle final of the '2024 Paris Olympics" held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 28th (Korea time). Kim Woo-min, who won the bronze medal, is thrilled. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.7.28/ |
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| The men's 400m freestyle final of the '2024 Paris Olympics" held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 28th (Korea time). Kim Woo-min, who won the bronze medal, is cheering on the podium. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.7.28/ |
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| The men's 400m freestyle final of the '2024 Paris Olympics" held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 28th (Korea time). Kim Woo-min is cheering with his fist clenched after winning the bronze medal. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.7.28/ |
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"I'm proud of you"
Park Tae-hwan gave congratulations and encouragement to Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Provincial Government) for giving the Olympic medal to Korean swimming for the first time in 12 years.
SBS commentator Park Tae-hwan looked at Kim Woo-min, who won the bronze medal with a time of 3:42.50 in the men's 400m freestyle final at La Defense Arena in Paris on the 28th (Korea time). I can see a smile now."
Kim Woo-min smiled while tinkering with the bronze medal around his neck. I couldn't read the disappointment of not winning gold or silver. He seemed satisfied with winning an Olympic medal for the first time in his personal career and the first time in 12 years in Korean swimming history.
After the awards ceremony, Kim Woo-min took a pleasant selfie with Lucas Martens (Germany, 3:41.78), who won gold and silver medals, and Eliza Winnington (Australia, 3:42.21) and shared a hot hug.
However, tears were gathering in Kim Woo-min's eyes when he returned from the ceremony. Kim Woo-min said "The process of preparing for this stage was quite difficult. I was filled with emotions because I felt like I was compensated for all of those things." On this day's race, "I saw other players as I went up 350m, and I thought (the race) was worth it." I felt like my limbs were burning, but I endured and ran for the Olympic medal."
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| The men's 400m freestyle preliminary event was held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 27th (Korea time). Kim Woo-min starts off strong. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.7.27/ |
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| The men's 400m freestyle final of the '2024 Paris Olympics" held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 28th (Korea time). Kim Woo-min is in the background. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.7.28/ |
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Park, who became the first Korean swimmer to win medals (gold 1, silver 3) in succession at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics, said, `I feel so fresh that I can't think of words. You must have been very nervous, but thank you for getting through it. I want to tell you that you worked hard."
Kim Woo-min, who managed to reach the final round with a record of 3:45:45 and a close seventh place in the preliminary round, hit fast from the beginning, unlike the preliminary round in lane 1. A peculiar 'straightforward instinct' was demonstrated without regret. He finished the first 50 m in second place behind Martens. Commissioner Park said "It's a good start. It's different from the preliminary round." Martens remained in second place until 52:01 and Kim Woo-min until 52:50 until the 100m. He finished second after Martens with a time of 1:48:71 in the 200m and a time of 2:17:10 in the 250m. He allowed Winnington to turn the tables in the last minute, falling to third place, but he finally secured the podium. The final record was 3:42.50, showing his ability to the extent that he was only 0.08 seconds apart from his personal record of 3:42.42 .
Park hoped that Kim Woo-min's 400m freestyle bronze medal would have a positive effect on other Korean athletes in the future. Korea is also aiming for medals in the 200-meter freestyle and men's 800-meter relay.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
