Lee Joo-ho (Seogwipo City Hall) of South Korea secured a silver medal in the men's 200m backstroke at the Asian Games, marking his second consecutive silver in this event.
On September 25, at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, Lee finished the final with a time of 1:56.58. He was just 0.16 seconds behind gold medalist Nishiono Kodai of Japan, who clocked in at 1:56.42. China's Shijiawei took the bronze with a time of 1:56.73.
Starting from lane five, Lee maintained a strong position from the beginning. He passed the 50m mark at 27.30 seconds and held onto second place at both the 100m and 150m marks, chasing Shijiawei. By the 150m mark, Lee's time was 1:26.93.
The competition intensified in the final 50m. As Shijiawei's pace slowed, Lee increased his speed. Nishiono, who was trailing, surged ahead to take the lead.
Although Lee could not prevent Nishiono's comeback, he finished second, surpassing Shijiawei. This victory was significant as it marked Lee's triumph over Shijiawei, a top Asian backstroke swimmer with one gold and four silver medals from the Olympics.
With this achievement, Lee has now won silver in the men's 200m backstroke for two consecutive Asian Games, following his performance at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. This event also adds to his medal tally, which includes a bronze in the 100m backstroke and a bronze in the men's 400m medley relay.
Meanwhile, the swimming events concluded on September 25. Kim Hyo-yeol, head coach of the South Korean swimming team, commented, "While the number of gold medals is somewhat disappointing, this competition has confirmed our new competitiveness that can hold up on the world stage."
He added, "We felt regret over missing individual medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but now that Kim Young-beom has joined and Kim Woo-min's recovery period is sufficient at two years, we aim to prepare for three or more individual medals at the LA Olympics."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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