“I don’t understand the situation either,” Hwang Sun-woo (21-Gangwon Provincial Office) admitted.
After failing to reach the final of the men’s 200-meter freestyle in his main event, Hwang failed in the 100-meter freestyle, and was unable to regain his speed in the 800-meter freestyle relay.
Hwang Sun-woo was the last swimmer for South Korea in the 800-meter medley relay final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the La Defense swimming management pool in Paris, France, on Aug. 31 (KST).
The team had already slipped to eighth place among the nine teams in the final, making it impossible for them to win a medal.
However, the last stroke of Hwang Sun-woo was different.
His time was 1:45.99.
While Hwang’s time of 7:07.26 was good enough to move South Korea into sixth place, it was a disappointing result for the Korean relay team.
At the 2024 World Championships in Doha in February this year, Hwang swam the last 200 meters of his leg in an incredible 1:43.76.
South Korea finished second in 7:01.94, earning their first ever silver medal in the team event at the World Championships.
However, in Paris, Hwang’s club record was 2.23 seconds slower.
The Korean team’s time also dropped by more than five seconds from the Doha World Championships.
Hwang, who entered Paris as the favorite to win the 200m freestyle, finished ninth (1:45.92) in the semifinals of the 200m freestyle, missing out on an eight-man final.
In the 200-meter freestyle, Hwang has reached the World Championship podium three times in a row, collecting one gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
At last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, he won in 1:44.40.
In the men’s 200-meter freestyle final, David Popovic (ROM) won gold in 1:44.72.
This makes Hwang’s performance all the more disappointing.
Hwang just missed out on the semifinals in the 100-meter freestyle (48.41, 16th) and then withdrew from the semifinals to focus on the 800-meter freestyle relay.
However, his performance in the 800-meter freestyle relay was also dismal.
“I’m naturally nervous at the Olympics, but I’m not the type of swimmer who gets overwhelmed by nerves,” Hwang said, adding, ”I trained well and was confident, but this is what happened. I don’t understand it,” he said with a puzzled expression.
“After the Tokyo Olympics (in 2021), I always won medals at the World Championships and Asian Games, so I’m more confused now,” he added.
Despite his self-deprecation, Hwang was not discouraged.
“I realized that I still have a lot to learn,” she said. “I think I need more training and mental maturity to show my skills on the big stage of the Olympics,” he said, adding, ”I still have to compete in the medley relay.
I still have the medley relay to compete in, and I will dedicate myself to swimming even more than I am now when I return to Korea after the Games.” 카지노사이트