Choi Byeong-kwang of Samsung Electronics won a bronze medal in the men's half marathon race walk at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. This marks South Korea's first athletics medal at the event and Choi's first medal in the Asian Games.
On September 23, Choi recorded a time of 1:28:35 to finish third in the men's half marathon race walk final held around the Aichi Prefectural Office and Nagoya City Hall.
The half marathon race walk was held for the first time as an official event at this Asian Games, differing from the traditional 20km race walk by covering a distance of 21.0975km.
Choi maintained a position between fourth and fifth before moving up to third place at the 12km mark (49:59). He held his position to secure the bronze medal, with times of 1:02:19 at 15km and 1:23:48 at 20km.
This bronze medal is Choi's first in his fourth Asian Games appearance. He was disqualified in the men's 20km race walk at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, finished seventh at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, and placed sixth at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.
It is the first medal for a South Korean male race walker at the Asian Games in 12 years, since Kim Hyun-seob won bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.