Woo Sang-hyuk (Yongin City Hall), known as the 'Smiling Jumper,' is set to pursue his first Asian Games gold medal. Despite concerns about his competitive form due to recent injuries, he is determined to bring home a gold medal for Korean athletics for the first time in eight years.
This year's athletics events will feature 50 gold medals, the second most after swimming. The competitions will take place at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, where the opening and closing ceremonies will also be held. The South Korean athletics team, consisting of 42 members, is led by star athlete Woo Sang-hyuk, aiming to reclaim the Asian Games gold medal that has eluded them since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.
For Woo Sang-hyuk, winning an Asian Games gold medal remains an unfinished task. He first competed at the Asian Games as a high school student in 2014 in Incheon, where he finished 10th. He then won silver medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games, marking his fourth appearance at the Asian Games.
If he wins this time, he will become the first South Korean male high jumper to claim gold since Lee Jin-taek, a professor at Daegu University, achieved this feat at the 2002 Busan Games. Lee won consecutive gold medals at the 1998 Bangkok and 2002 Busan Games.
Woo has consistently proven his competitiveness on the international stage, winning the 2022 World Indoor Championships (2.34m) and a silver medal at the outdoor World Championships (2.35m). In 2023, he topped the Diamond League Final. Last year, he also won the Nanjing World Indoor Championships (2.31m) and secured a silver medal at the Tokyo World Championships (2.34m). He has now medaled at the World Indoor Championships for four consecutive years, finishing third (2.26m) in March.
However, his recent performance has raised concerns. In May, he withdrew from the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo after injuring himself when his left spike tore. After three months of recovery, he returned to competition on August 22 at the Diamond League in Silesia, Poland, but failed to clear 2.16m, finishing without an official record. He also placed last at the Heilbronn meet in Germany with a jump of 2.14m, falling short of both his personal best (2.36m) and this season's best (2.30m).
Woo will face tough competition at the upcoming Games, including Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar), who won gold at the previous Hangzhou Games, as well as India's Sharvesh Anil Kushare and Japan's Ryoichi Akamatsu.
To stay competitive, Woo has been training hard. At a recent event to encourage the national team in Yongin, he stated, "I am constantly challenging myself to improve my performance. I will train joyfully in the remaining time to show a good result."
Having acclimated to the local environment, Woo will compete in the men's high jump qualifiers on September 24, with the finals scheduled for September 27.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.