▲ Kim Si-on, Namadi Joel Jin, Lee Jae-sung, and Bewesa Daniel Gasama leaving the track
The South Korean track and field national team has successfully overturned difficult-to-understand officiating decisions for two consecutive days at the Asian Games.
The mixed 400-meter relay team, consisting of Seo Min-jun (Seocho County Office), Seo Ji-hyun (Jincheon County Office), Kim Si-on (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps), and Kim Ju-ha (Siheung City Hall), failed to finish their heat in Group 2 of the mixed 400-meter relay at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held today (September 28) at the Mizuho Park Stadium in Nagoya, Japan.
During the baton exchange between the third runner, Kim Si-on, and the anchor, Kim Ju-ha, an Indian runner running alongside them slipped and collided with the South Korean athletes, preventing them from completing the race.
Following the race, the judges disqualified (DQ) the South Korean team, prompting team officials to immediately appeal.
An official from the Korea Association of Athletics Federations stated, "Anyone could see that we were the victims," adding, "We strongly emphasized this point."
Although the judges accepted South Korea's appeal, they only modified the disqualification to a did-not-finish (DNF) classification.
For the national team, this made little difference as the outcome of failing to advance to the final remained unchanged.
Consequently, the team filed a further appeal, which the judges ultimately accepted, granting South Korea a re-run.
The national team will run alone today after completing all other track schedule events.
Whether they advance to the final will depend on their time.
In the mixed 400-meter relay, the top three teams from each of the two preliminary heats, along with the next two fastest teams overall, advance to the final.
South Korea must beat the time of 42.18 seconds recorded by Bahrain.
Meanwhile, the South Korean track team also faced a questionable decision in the men's 400-meter relay heats held yesterday and successfully overturned it through the appeal process.
The men's 400-meter relay team was initially disqualified for an alleged baton exchange zone violation during the heats, but was reinstated and advanced to the final after appealing.
It is rare for referee decisions to be overturned at major international multi-sport events, making it an unusual occurrence for the South Korean team to rectify decisions for two days in a row.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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