Park Na-yeon Sets New South Korean Women's 1,500m Record of 4:13.87, Breaking 34-Year-Old Mark

The South Korean women's 1,500m record has been broken for the first time in 34 years.
Park Na-yeon (Wonju City Hall) crossed the finish line in 4 minutes and 13.87 seconds to win the women's 1,500m race at the 2026 Hokuren Distance Challenge held in Shibetsu, Hokkaido, Japan, today (July 18).
Park's time of 4:13.87 marks a new South Korean record for the women's 1,500m, the first in 34 years.
Park surpassed the previous record of 4:14.18, set by Lee Mi-kyung at the World Junior Championships in 1992 when she was a high school student, by 0.31 seconds to become the new record holder.
Park broke the women's 1,500m open division record four times last year alone but had fallen short of the national record until finally succeeding today.
"There were times when it was so difficult that I wanted to give up on the goal of setting a new national record, but I was able to overcome it thanks to the unwavering belief of head coach Yoo Young-hoon and coach Lee Jin-il. I am sincerely grateful to my family and colleagues who helped me stay mentally strong during the tough moments," Park said. "I will not settle and will continue to challenge myself toward even higher goals."
Park is scheduled to compete in the women's 1,500m and 800m at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which will be held in September.
(Photo: Courtesy of Korea Association of Athletics Federations, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.