[Anchor]
The men's 400-meter relay national team, which reached the final after an "appeal commotion," set a new South Korean record yesterday (September 28) and claimed the bronze medal for the second consecutive time. Joel Jin and Bewesa, the twin pillars behind this new history, have wide-open a bright future for South Korean sprinting.
Reporter Hong Seok-jun reports from Nagoya.
[Reporter]
The journey of the men's 400m relay team was a series of hardships.
After being disqualified in the preliminaries due to a baton-passing issue, they dramatically came back to life when their appeal was accepted. In the final, they were assigned the most disadvantageous lane 1 and raced through the rain.
The Taegeuk warriors delivered the ultimate race with their skills and fighting spirit.
Passing the baton with flawless synchronization and giving it their all in a fierce sprint, they shaved 0.06 seconds off the previous national record to co-author a new piece of history with back-to-back bronze medals, roaring and hugging each other afterward.
[Bewesa / National Track and Field Sprinter: I think we saw hope, realizing that even with the handicap of lane 1, we can still compete for rankings.]
At the center of it were Joel Jin and Bewesa, who ran the second and fourth straightaways, respectively.
Having grown through friendly competition and both clocking 10.13 seconds—tied for the second-fastest 100m time in South Korean history—the two athletes also advanced side by side into the earlier 100m final, where Joel Jin finished fourth and Bewesa fifth, foreshadowing an even brighter future.
[Bewesa / National Track and Field Sprinter: I checked YouTube comments for the first time in a while, and there were a lot of comments saying, 'There is a lot to fix.' It wasn't necessarily a consolation, but it made me think, 'We still managed to finish fifth even with so much to fix,' and it makes me very excited for next year's training.]
Building on the confidence gained this time, the two athletes will challenge even bigger goals next year: advancing to the World Championships relay finals for the first time in 14 years and breaking the 100m South Korean record.
[Joel Jin / National Track and Field Sprinter: With the World Championships and the Asian Championships coming up next year, we need to keep preparing and lay a stronger stepping stone toward breaking the national record.]
Sometimes as competitors and other times as companions, South Korea's sprinting "twin pillars" are now running vigorously once again toward a higher stage.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Choi Dae-woong | Video edited by Kim Yoon-sung | Design by Park Taeyoung)
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