While Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon-do) spoke to the press with red eyes, Lee Ho-joon (Jeju-si) turned his back and shed tears. Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon-do), the eldest brother who was the first English speaker, also cried.
Only Kim Woo-min (Gangwon-do) remained calm and comforted his teammates one by one.
The golden generation’s bid for the first Olympic team medal in Korean swimming history ended in tears.
South Korea’s men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team of Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo finished sixth in 7:07.26 in the final of the men’s medley relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the La Défense swimming pool in Paris, France, on Wednesday (Aug. 31).
The men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team had their sights set higher after reaching Korea’s first-ever Olympic swimming team final.
But an Olympic medal was out of reach for the golden generation of Korean swimming, who combined for silver at this year’s World Championships and gold at last year’s Asian Games.
“We finished the final with a time in the 7:07s, which was more than five seconds slower than the Korean record (7:01.73),” said Hwang Sun-woo, who was happy with the result, but lamented, ”We prepared hard for three years after the Tokyo Olympics and had high expectations after performing well at the Asian Games and World Championships.”
“Many people cheered for us, but we were disappointed,” he said, adding, ”We will take heart and improve the problems we found in this competition.”
Kim Woo-min said, “It was an honor to represent Korea at the Olympics and reach the final stage.” “The result was disappointing, but the three years of preparation were worth it,” he said. His words were meant to encourage his teammates.
Yang Jae-hoon, the eldest brother, who was the first English speaker and performed poorly, said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t have anything to show.”
Lee Ho-joon also said, “I’m sorry for the disappointing result after three years of hard preparation,” adding, “There are many people to thank, from the officials of the Korean Swimming Federation to those who prepared food during the Olympics. I will do my best to make up for the shortcomings.”
Despite the disappointing end to the men’s 800-meter freestyle relay in Paris, the golden generation of Korean swimming has shown promise in other international competitions.
Hwang said, “I felt a lot of deficiencies at the Paris Olympics. We will reorganize to show better results at the World Championships next year, the Asian Games in two years, and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028,” Hwang said.
Hwang Sun-woo, who will compete in the men’s 400-meter medley relay, vowed, “There is still time to compete in Paris, so I will work hard with my medley relay teammates to have a race without regrets.”
Kim Woo-min, who won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, an individual event, but was unable to join his teammates on the podium, said, “I will use today’s pain as a springboard for the Olympics in four years.” 토토사이트 추천