Rising Star Kim Young-beom Wins First Individual Silver Medal... Just 0.04 Seconds Behind First Place

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South Korean swimmers won silver and bronze medals in the men's 100m freestyle final. The gold medal narrowly went to China's Pan Zhanle.

Reporter Ha Seong-nyong has the details.

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Kim Young-beom showed a blistering pace from the preliminaries, finishing first in his heat and advancing to the final in third place overall, behind world number one Pan Zhanle and national teammate Hwang Sun-woo.

Assigned to lane 3 in the final, Kim dived powerfully at the starting gun and engaged in a fierce three-way battle with Pan and Hwang.

Utilizing his 195 cm height and long arms to surge forward, he turned at the 50-meter mark in first place. With just 10 meters remaining, he held a slim lead over Pan, but was overtaken right before hitting the touch pad, finishing with a time of 47.65 seconds, 0.04 seconds behind Pan.

While Pan claimed the top spot for the second consecutive time, Kim took the silver and Hwang claimed the bronze.

Kim, who competed only in relay events and won two silver medals in Hangzhou three years ago, adorned his first individual medal in silver. He enjoyed the moment on the podium alongside senior teammate Hwang Sun-woo, who won bronze for the second straight time.

[Kim Young-beom / National Swimming Team Member : A silver medal is still a great medal, and since winning an individual event medal feels like a huge milestone in my career, I am so happy.]

[Hwang Sun-woo / National Swimming Team Member : My record is a bit disappointing, but since I am starting off with a medal around my neck, I need to do well in my remaining races and try to upgrade to a better medal.]

Kim Young-beom will compete in the 50m freestyle today (September 21) to challenge for his first gold medal once again, while Hwang Sun-woo will participate in the 800m freestyle relay, aiming for a second consecutive victory.

In the men's 100m backstroke, Lee Ju-ho finished third, claiming the bronze medal for the third consecutive time.

(Camera Reporter: Park Hyun-chul | Video Editing: Seeun Shin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.