'Korea Track & Field's first medal attempt!' Woo Sang-hyuk's Showtime begins

Aug 06, 2024

Jae Gun, Jung cjg@sportschosun.com

'Smile Jumper' Showtime of Woo Sang-hyuk (28, Yongin City Hall) begins.

Woo Sang-hyuk will play the preliminary round of men's high jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held at the Stade de France Stadium in Paris, France on the 7th (Korea time). The top 12 players will qualify for the finals in this preliminary round, which will involve a total of 31 players. If the joint 12th place comes out, the number of finalists may increase further.

Woo Sang-hyuk, who first competed in the Olympics at the 2016 Rio Games, stayed at 2 m 26 and was eliminated from the preliminary round. He made a new history at the Tokyo Games. Since Lee Jin-taek, the men's high jump at the 1996 Atlanta Games, he has succeeded in advancing to the final round of the Olympics for the first time in 25 years as a track and field player. It wasn't the end here. In the final, he set a new Korean record of 2m35, ranking fourth, the highest in the history of Korean track and field in the Olympics.

Jae Gun, Jung cjg@sportschosun.com

Woo Sang-hyuk, who made another leap in the third Olympics, dreams of a medal. It is a fact that the qualifying round is already in place. Woo Sang-hyuk, whose personal record is 2m36, has already exceeded 2m33 this year. Only Jean-Marco Tamberi (2m37, Italy), Hamisiker (2m36, New Zealand), and Harrison (2m34, USA) have higher season records than Woo Sang-hyuk. Shelby McCuan of the U.S. crossed the same 2m33 as Woo Sang-hyuk, and Moutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar's best record this season is 2m31.

Woo Sang-hyuk has been preparing for an Olympic medal for a long time. Woo Sang-hyuk's eyes were only on the Paris Olympics, as he set the first milestone in Korean track and field after winning the 2022 World Indoor Championships (2m34), the 2nd place in the outdoor World Championships (2m35), and the 2023 Diamond League Final (2m35). Woo Sang-hyuk said, `All the training and competition over the past three years have been prepared to win a medal at the Paris Olympics.' "I don't care about anything except the high jump" and "I want to jump even 1cm higher."He shaved his head with the desire that " Woo Sang-hyuk will participate in the Paris Olympics with shorter hair than he did at the Tokyo Olympics, where he participated as a soldier.

Woo Sang-hyuk successfully completed the Paris project. Woo Sang-hyuk, who trained in Hong Kong from March to April, focused on the actual game from May to June. The 52nd KBS Bae National Athletics Championships in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, What Gravity Challenge in Doha, Qatar, the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo, Japan, and the Taiwan International Athletics Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. It was a ups and downs grade, but as it was a process, I didn't care. After all the competitions, he focused on speeding up and weighting at his own pace in Korea. After finishing training in the Czech Republic, a pleasant place where he set his personal best in June, he entered Paris, a battleground. On the 14th of last month, he entered the pre-camp 'Team Korea Paris Platform' set up at the French National Defense Sports Center (CNSD) in Fontainebleau, outside Paris, and joined the athletes' village on the 4th after focusing on training for three weeks. "I hope the game starts soon."It was thoroughly prepared to say ".

Woo Sang-hyuk sees 2m37 as a 'high enough to win an Olympic gold medal' and is constantly challenging this height. Woo Sang-hyuk "I challenged 2m37 twice in this year's indoor competition. Unfortunately, I failed, but I felt like I could go over it"I really want to go over 2m37 at the Paris Olympics. Don't you have to aim high. My goal is to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics." The World Association of Athletics Federations also selected Woo Sang-hyuk as one of the athletes to watch at the Paris Olympics. "The results of the men's high jump are unpredictableThe World Athletics Federation tied Woo Sang-hyuk to the `showman to entertain the audience' along with Harrison and Shelby McCuan.

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics was held in Paris, France, on the 27th (Korea Standard Time). Jockeys Woo Sang-hyuk (right) and Kim Seo-young pass under the PONT AU CHANGE by boat to attend the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics held in the Seine River area of Paris, France on the 26th (local time). Paris (France) = Photo Co-Chop Foundation/2024.7.27/

The surrounding atmosphere is fine. Tamberi, who is considered Woo Sang-hyuk's biggest gold medal rival, is not in normal shape. Tamberi, the gold medalist at the last Tokyo Games, won the European Championships in Rome in June, surpassing this season's No. 1 record of 2m37. On the 5th, Tamberi wrote on his SNS account that he felt severe pain in his side, along with a picture of himself lying in an emergency room bed and receiving treatment. First aid, CT scans, ultrasound, blood tests, etc. were performed. Probably a kidney stone" posted. He was scheduled to fly to Paris, France, on the same day, but Tamberi's schedule was twisted due to the medical staff's recommendation of 'Stability'. Tamberi was due to leave for Paris today to begin his journey to his great dream, and was advised to postpone his flight to tomorrow"All I can do is wait and pray" "I did everything for the Olympics," said Tamberi, who suffers from a 38.8-degree fever. "No matter what my condition is, I will give my soul to the last jump."

Tamberi is facing bad news every day in this tournament. Tamberi waved the national flag vigorously on a boat carrying the Italian team at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, only to drop his wedding ring into the Seine. It is completely different from Woo Sang-hyuk, who took a pleasant step as a flag bearer for the Korean team.

Woo Sang-hyuk, who will explore the history of Korea's first medal in trans & field in the preliminary round, is expected to play a final match at 2:10 a.m. on the 11th to determine the color of the medal.

vanbasten@sportschosun.com