'First Dance'Mixed 400m medley relay, finished 15th in the preliminary round, feeling the world wall
Aug 02, 2024
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South Korea ranked 15th out of 16 teams with a time of 3:48:78 in the 400m swimming medley preliminary round at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 2nd (Korea time).
Lee Eun-ji (Baeyoung), Choi Dong-yeol (Pyeongyoung), Kim Ji-hoon (Wedding), and Heo Yeon-kyung (Freestyle), who belong to Group 1 of the preliminary round, finished seventh in the group, beating only Brazil.
The mixed 400-meter medley relay was adopted as an official event for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021. South Korean swimming, who failed to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, qualified for the Paris Olympics, but confirmed the gap with the world's highest level.
In an interview with domestic reporters, Choi Dong-yeol said, `The men's 800m relay has risen to the world level now, but he failed to pass the preliminary round at the Tokyo Olympics. Our mixed team can also show a different side at the 2028 LA Olympics."
Kim Ji-hoon said in a confident voice, "'Experience in competing with world-class athletes at the Olympics, the biggest stage, will help Korean swimming grow.'"
Lee Eun-ji pledged that she would try to compete in the women's 400m medley relay at the LA Olympics.
Korean swimming participated in this competition in various events, but Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Provincial Office) has won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle so far. Kim Woo-min gave a medal to Korean swimming for the first time in 12 years since Park Tae-hwan won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
However, Hwang Sun-woo suffered the shock of his main event being eliminated from the semifinals in the 200m freestyle, and the men's 800m relay failed to win a medal with a below-expected performance, showing a disappointing overall performance.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
