South Korea's sprinting duo, Namadi Joel Jin (Yecheon County) and Biwesa Daniel Gasama (Ansan City), finished 4th and 5th, respectively, in the men's 100m final at the Asian Games. Although they missed out on a medal for the first time in 44 years, both athletes competed closely with Asia's top sprinters in the final.
Joel Jin recorded a time of 10.17 seconds on September 25 at the 2026 Aichi Nagoya Asian Games held at Mizuho Park in Nagoya, while Biwesa followed closely behind with a time of 10.19 seconds.
The two athletes aimed to become the third South Koreans to win a medal in the men's 100m at the Asian Games, following Seo Mal-gu (bronze in 1978 Bangkok) and Jang Jae-geun (silver in 1982 New Delhi), but unfortunately fell short.
Namadi Joel Jin was born to a South Korean mother and a Nigerian long jumper father. He began his athletics career in the fifth grade. In April of this year, he set a personal best of 10.19 seconds at a domestic competition, ranking fifth in South Korea's all-time records. In July, he tied the second-fastest time in South Korean history with a record of 10.13 seconds at the Niigata Prefectural Athletics Championships in Japan.
The gold medal was claimed by Thailand's Puripon Bunsong, who set a new Asian Games record with a time of 9.90 seconds. Bunsong, who had the fastest qualifying time of 9.95 seconds, improved his performance in the semifinals with a time of 9.91 seconds and then again in the final. He fell just 0.07 seconds short of the Asian record of 9.83 seconds set by Su Bingtian of China at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Oman’s Al-Balushi Ali (10.04 seconds) and Al-Balushi Malham (10.11 seconds) took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the women's 100m final, 17-year-old Chinese prodigy Chen Yujie emerged as a new force in Asian sprinting. She crossed the finish line first with a time of 11.06 seconds, breaking the previous Asian Games record of 11.15 seconds set by Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe in 2002 by 0.09 seconds.
Singapore's Shanti Pereira, who won a silver medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, secured another silver with a time of 11.21 seconds. Bahrain's Edidiong Odiong took home the bronze with a time of 11.33 seconds.
South Korea did not qualify any athletes for the women's 100m final. Kim Joo-ha (Siheung City) and Seo Ji-hyun (Jincheon County) competed in the semifinals but failed to advance to the final.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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